Gentiana-nivalis_fo_alba_22

Description:

Gentiana nivalis fo. albaAlpine Gentian (white form)Slo.: sneni svi (bela oblika)Dat.: Aug. 05. 2013Lat.: 46.44189 Long.: 13.64427Code: Bot_739/2013_DSC7368 Habitat: Upland grass land, among large calcareous boulders, modestly eastward inclined terrain, full sun, exposed to precipitations, precipitations ~3.000 mm/year, average temperature 1-3 deg C, elevation 1.900 m (6.200 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.Substratum: soil.Place: Mt. Mangarts flats, west of the largest snow valley on the Mangarts flats, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia ECComment: Growing solitary. Many gentians are known for their intensive saturated blue color. Particularly the common and widely known Gentiana verna blooming in spring grass can be strikingly Blue. Albinos, white plants without their blue pigment, are very rare in this genus. I was happy to find an albino of widely distributed but not so common Gentiananivalis. It was white as snow, truly a 'snow' gentian.Ref.:(1) O.Angerer and T. Muer, Alpenpflanzen, Ulmer, Stuttgart (2004), p257(2) M.A.Fischer, W.Adler, K.Oswald, ExkursionsfloraOesterreich Liechtenstein, Suedtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 693.(3) A.Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije, Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 509. (4) K.Lauber and G.Wagner, Flora Helvetica, 5. Auflage, Haupt (2012), p 1417.