Along Rallarvegen, Norway

[Hoy]

Hoy you have brought back memories. It is many years since we travelled by Norwegian Railways on the Flam railroad. The only train I know that stops en route for everyone to get off and take a picture of the waterfall. (I'm talking of the days before digital cameras and phones).

The train still stops! The Flåm railway is very popular among tourists.

[shelagh]

I have been reckoning up it was 37 years ago, quite frightening

[Alan_b]

Thanks, Hoy, really interesting.

At Finse railway station you can find all the colours from pure white to dark pink, almost red. I have never been there when the seeds are ripe though!

Received wisdom here is that the lighter colours are crosses between Silene dioica and Silene latifolia.  In this thread some knowledgeable people explained to me how to tell the two species apart http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=15493.0 .  Does Silene latifolia grow wild in Norway? 

I have never seen pleno forms in the wild but I know they can be found. I have seen excellent forms pictured. The montane forms I have seen usually have less divided leaves.

Me neither, but a few months ago I read a note from someone who found a flore pleno form of Ranunculus acris with the finely-divided leaves I might expect.  Interesting to see the leaves of that montane form in your picture.  Perhaps the widely-cultivated form of flore pleno originally came from up a mountain somewhere? 

[Hoy]

Thanks, Hoy, really interesting.
Received wisdom here is that the lighter colours are crosses between Silene dioica and Silene latifolia.  In this thread some knowledgeable people explained to me how to tell the two species apart http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=15493.0 .  Does Silene latifolia grow wild in Norway? 
Me neither, but a few months ago I read a note from someone who found a flore pleno form of Ranunculus acris with the finely-divided leaves I might expect.  Interesting to see the leaves of that montane form in your picture.  Perhaps the widely-cultivated form of flore pleno originally came from up a mountain somewhere?

Alan,

I can't say whether the plants at Finse are hybrids or not - but I assume they are not. S. latifolia alba is naturalized in Norway but rarer than S dioica. As Finse is a much visited railway station you never know what somebody might have brought with them.

I have recently seen a picture of a pleno form but I can't remember where. I think it was found in Northern Norway.

[Yann]

Very nice landscapes and flowers carpets, as Maggie pointed out it looks cold.

[Hoy]

Very nice landscapes and flowers carpets, as Maggie pointed out it looks cold.

You have to walk or bike to keep warm, not looking at plants!

[Hoy]

Arabidopsis arenosa. Usually they are smaller than this.




Potentilla crantzii. "Shutting down" due to lack of sun.




Scree. Unfortunately no time for investigating this exciting site. Had to reach the dinner!




Salix reticulata, male.





Polystichum lonchitis.

[Hoy]

Myosotis decumbens.




A very small form of Saxifraga cotyledon.




Saxifraga aizoides - yellow.




The last flower of Dryas octopetala.




Sax. aizoides - yellow/orange.

[Hoy]

Saxifraga aizoides is very variable. Here is an even darker form.




The first tree (almost - we had seen some small birches). A rowan tree in flower.




Moldå river.




The rowan tree. The railway in the background.




Vasps! Nobody out in the cold weather though!

[Hoy]

Pedicularis lapponica.




The darkest S aizoides I've ever seen. Even the leaves was a little darker than usual.




Somebody wants to raft?




Stellaria nemorum. Nutrient deficiency?




If I remember right this is Reinungavatn (lake Reinunga). The other alternative is Seltuftvatnet (lake Seltuft).

[Alan_b]

Alan,

I can't say whether the plants at Finse are hybrids or not - but I assume they are not. S. latifolia alba is naturalized in Norway but rarer than S dioica. As Finse is a much visited railway station you never know what somebody might have brought with them.

There are 35 silene dioica cultivars listed in the RHS plant finder, including a pleno form called 'Firefly' with a PBR designation (see e.g. here https://www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/plants/SIL120-Silene-dioica-Firefly-PBR-Campion-Firefly ). But all the obtainable ones are the normal red or possibly pink.  I grow a few of these and my favourite is a cultivar called 'Inane' which had reddish leaves, the normal 'red' flowers and which goes on flowering throughout the summer on long sprawling flower stems.

[shelagh]

Wonderful pictures and plants Hoy, thank you.

[Gabriela]

It will take me a while to catch up with everything here Trond but I'm glad I've browsed your thread first - a bit of snow is not bad, especially when dressed well and keep moving, while when too hot there is nothing that can be done....I thought about this when hiking in Dobrogea (Romania) in late July under 40C. I definitely prefer the snowy option.
Very nice landscapes, as usual

[David Lyttle]

Hi Trond,

It looks like a very interesting journey.The treeline in southern New Zealand is about 1100 metres so is comparable to Norway. I think our mountains are more rugged on the whole so there a lack of railways through them.

I guess all plants are native to somewhere; I am very familiar with Ranunculus acris as a pasture weed so I hope it is appreciated in its native home. (the same might be said for dandelions). Apart from that a very interesting flora especially the dwarf willows.

[Hoy]

There are 35 silene dioica cultivars listed in the RHS plant finder, including a pleno form called 'Firefly' with a PBR designation (see e.g. here https://www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/plants/SIL120-Silene-dioica-Firefly-PBR-Campion-Firefly ). But all the obtainable ones are the normal red or possibly pink.  I grow a few of these and my favourite is a cultivar called 'Inane' which had reddish leaves, the normal 'red' flowers and which goes on flowering throughout the summer on long sprawling flower stems.

Alan,

Silene dioica is very variable: I have seen plants with double flowers, white ones, all shades of red-pink and different petal forms. The stem can be long and sprawling as you say but also shorter with a denser habit. Only once have I collected a plant for garden use, it had very nice double flowers but the stem was long and sprawling. I have no idea whether the forms you find in the mountains will keep their denser habit in a lowland garden.