Gentiana-orbicularis_4

Description:

Gentiana orbicularis Schur, syn.: Gentiana favratii Rittener, Gentiana verna L. var. favratii Rittener, Gentiana brachyphylla subsp. favratii (Rittener) Tutin, Calathiana orbicularis (Schur) HolubFamily: Gentianaceae Juss.EN: name not found, DE: Rundblatt-Enzian, Rundblttrige EnzianSlo.: okroglolistni sviDat.: Oct. 16. 2019Lat.: 46.439649 Long.: 13.641108Code: Bot_1263/2019_DSC01517Habitat: on steep, stony, patchy grassland among rocks; calcareous ground; full sun, south aspect; elevation 1.940 m (6.365 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 0 - 2 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil.Place: Mangart's flats, above the mountain hut but below the terminal loop of the Mangart's tool road, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC.Comment: Gentiana orbicularis is a tiny, hardly taller than 5 cm, and very beautiful plant growing only at high elevations from subalpine to subnival level. It seems to be among the rarest of the 16 Slovenian taxa of the genus Gentiana. It is protected in several countries including Austria and Germany. I was quite surprised, when I found several plants in bloom so late in the year.Ref.:(1) Personal communication (Conf.) with Dr. Igor Dakskobler, Scientific Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts(2) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora fr sterreich, Liechtenstein und Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 695.(3) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 509. (4) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 2., Haupt (2004), p 20.