La Saxifrage paniculée (Saxifraga paniculata) in the golden light of the setting sun. An extremely hardy plant, it can survive summers on hot cliff faces with little water followed by winters with biting winds unimpeded by snow cover. That is, so long as it is left undisturbed. On cliffs where rock climbing is permitted, the saxifrage disappears.[1]
2023-07-13 Pointe des Chaudannes, Montricher-Alabanne, France
* Saxifraga comes from Latin for stone-breaker, for the traditional use of S granulata in treating kidney stones. I can't find studies on its efficacy, but a plant in the same family is used as part of Ayurvedic formulation with 60% success.[2] This is different again from the maidenhead fern, which was called saxifrage by Pliny.[3]
** It is unlikely that all the treatments listed in [3] have undergone double-blind tests. For example, "A wreath of [saxifrage], worn on the head, alleviates head-ache.", or "The leaves, steeped in the urine of a youth who has not arrived at puberty, and beaten up with saltpetre, compose a liniment which, it is said, prevents wrinkles from forming on the abdomen in females."
[1] doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2007.03.002 [2] doi:10.1016/j.eujim.2011.02.003 [3] The Natural History (79 AD). Pliny the Elder. [XXII ch:30] translator: John Bostoc, 1855.
Crépide dorée (Crepis aurea), found exclusively in alpine meadows. Not an aggressive plant, even 135 years after the retreat of the Rotmoosferner glacier in Austria it still has not spread onto the available slopes.[doi:10.1016/j.baae.2005.02.004] Alpine processes are slow, with the earliest plants taking a couple of decades to gain a foothold and begin to build up the soil. After a couple more decades, with a system for water retention and minerals such as phosphorus, legumes can then colonize, bringing with them their nitrogen-fixing root microbes. Decades later, late-succession plants can then compete in a stable, nurturing environment.
2023-07-11 Pointe d'Emy, Montricher-Albanne, France
Small cattle herds added to the soundscape of our morning walks, such as these tartenaise(?). Specialized for altitude, even on the highest ridges you still have to watch for cow pads. The rich variety of forage in alpine meadows contributes to the distinctive bouquet of cheeses such as Abondance (Appellation d'origine contrôlée, Haute-Savoie, France). In an example of hyperlocal specificity, this study [doi:10.1017/s0022029999003842] found that cheese made from cows grazing on the north slope at 1500 m had distinct flavour and texture from cheese made from the same herd grazing on the south slope at the same altitude. The bacterial and chemical composition of the milk changed with the pasture composition as the cows went back and forth, giving more "burnt, sour" from the north compared with "toffee, exotic fruit" from the south.
2023-07-11 Les Karellis, Montricher-Albanne, France