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#ArcticAlpinePlants

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Pekka Niittynen<p>7/<br />Phyllodoce caerulea (blue heath or purple mountain heather) is a characteristic plant of many Low-Arctic and boreal regions but has an especially patchy distribution.</p><p>Heaths full of this plant flowering can be often seen from distance due to its spectacular colours.</p><p>It has needle-like evergreen leaves and a woody stem. Part of the wide heather family.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Wildflowers" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Wildflowers</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/flora" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>flora</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Arctic" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Arctic</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/plants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>plants</span></a></p>
Pekka Niittynen<p>6/<br />Silene uralensis has a circumarctic distribution. This one is from <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Svalbard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Svalbard</span></a>.</p><p>Just look at the size of the flower compared to its shoot! </p><p>The flower is almost fully closed with minimal petals which hints that self-pollination is likely its main strategy. Insect pollinators can be sometimes scarce in High-Arctic.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Arctic" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Arctic</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Biodiversity</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Wildflowers" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Wildflowers</span></a></p>
Pekka Niittynen<p>5/<br />There are ~28000 species of <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Orchids" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Orchids</span></a> globally but only very few in the <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Arctic" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Arctic</span></a>. Chamorchis alpina is one of those. The only species in its genus. </p><p>It’s not as showy nor colourful as its many relatives, but it is always a pleasing find.</p><p>Occurs only on the calcareous heaths of Fennoscandia and <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Alps" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Alps</span></a>. <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Endangered" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Endangered</span></a> here in <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Finland" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Finland</span></a>.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Biodiversity</span></a></p>
Pekka Niittynen<p>4/<br />Dendrosenecio keniodendron or giant groundsel is a giant rosette plant endemic to Mt Kenya at altitudes between 3900 and 4500 metres.</p><p>All plants on Mt Kenya flower synchronously with irregular number of years between. Rosettes close and open depending on the weather and this way regulate the temperature in the middle of the rosette.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Kenya" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Kenya</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/MtKenya" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>MtKenya</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Afroalpine" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Afroalpine</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/plants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>plants</span></a></p>
Pekka Niittynen<p>3/<br />Papaver alpinum (probably subsp. rhaeticum), the Alpine poppy in front of one of the most spectacular landscapes I have ever visited. </p><p>An European alpine species. Grows on dry ridges, screes and gravel. Comes in many varieties and colours. Also in people’s gardens.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Dolomites" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Dolomites</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Alps" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Alps</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Pyrenees" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Pyrenees</span></a></p>
Pekka Niittynen<p>2/<br />My next choice is Botrychium boreale (Boreal moonwort). It is a wonderful tiny weirdo. </p><p>A fern from sub-Arctic tundra and boreal meadows and floodplains. Its distribution is amphi-Atlantic meaning it occurs on both sides of Atlantic Ocean. Although the species avoids the most polar regions and highest mountains, it has even been found by the hot springs of high-Arctic <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Svalbard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Svalbard</span></a>.</p><p>The species is struggling in many places due to shrubification of previously open habitats.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a></p>
Pekka Niittynen<p>1/<br /> I will start with a species from one my favourite and diverse genus: Saxifraga oppositifolia (purple saxifrage) occurs widely in the Arctic and mountains of the North. It is one of the northernmost plants in the world.</p><p>The photo is from Pältsan mountain, Northern Sweden, one of the hotspots of Nordic mountain flora.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a></p>
Pekka Niittynen<p>This will become a mega-thread. I will introduce one arctic-alpine plant species every day this year (or until my private photo archive runs out…). </p><p>These species are small and beautiful, fragile but hardy. Many are already endangered, and many will be losers in a warming world. Each one has earned our attention.</p><p><a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/ArcticAlpinePlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ArcticAlpinePlants</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Arctic" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Arctic</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Alpine" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Alpine</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Tundra" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Tundra</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Wildflowers" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Wildflowers</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/Plants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Plants</span></a> <a href="https://ecoevo.social/tags/biodiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>biodiversity</span></a></p>
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