Grindelwald -July 2012

[peter hood]

I have just got round to sorting out some pictures from a trip to Grindelwald, July 19th -July 30th.
They have not had a good summer, but we were treated to 6 days of Summer weather.
I thought perhaps a few of you might like to see a few of them.
If i have not always got the ID right, remember, Kerstin might have been patient enough to put up with the time spent taking the photos, but not also with the time it might have taken to sort out the ID.
First two pictures that sum up the setting,
The Wetterhorn
The Eiger
then
The 'Achtung' picture; If you were in my generation Germans in war stories always seemed to spend a lot of time saying 'Achtung'. When I descended on very steep and loose Spruce needle litter to take this picture of Cephalanthera rubra, an elderly German lady (probably at least as old as me, anyway) said 'Achtung' to me very loudly.
Ranunculus ?alpestris
Saxifraga paniculata

[peter hood]

A few more

Botrychium lunaria - for a plant that is usually so insignificant it was surprising how often it caught our eye.
Dianthus superbus
Thalictrum cf. aquilegifolium
Anemone narcissiflora
Pulsatilla alpina apiifolia - this was the only plant we saw that was still flowering

[peter hood]

Next set

Aquilegia atrata
Parnassia palustris
Epilobium fleischeri
Astrantia major
Pyrola rotundifolia - in large quantities - Limestone woods - Shallow limestone soils in open places and almost flooded sites by the river.

[peter hood]

Next group
Primula farinosa 2 pics
Primula elatior
Soldanella alpina
Bartsia alpina

[peter hood]

Now some trumpet Gentians, I think the first may be Gentiana clusii and the rest G.acaulis
Also a Pedicularis

[peter hood]

Now Gentiana verna types
We are pretty certain that the first picture here, which is the first of this type of gentian we saw in flower, is Gentiana verna. We were inclined to regard all the rest as Gentiana bavarica though if anybody told me that some were G.brachyphylla I would not be surprised. we did not have time to look at the leaves of the all the hundreds of plants, and those we did look at, where we could even find the leaves, were far less distinct than they appear in the books.
Incidentally, although digital is much better with colour than film, it still can't do these Gentians - the Gentiana bavarica in particular seemed to the eye a much deeper blue that these pictures.
The final picture in this set is Myosotis alpestris

[peter hood]

Phyteuma orbiculare
Arnica - 2 pics - a very common plant but impressive in quantity
Cirsium acaule
Nigritella nigra - another plant which the eye sees differently from the camera - it appears much darker when you see the real plant.
This is probably enough for now, but I will probably post some more orchid pictures, and maybe a few more later.

[Maggi Young]

Peter, thank you for sharing these super photos with us. It is not given to everyone to be able to see these plants in the wild and so such reports are much appreciated. Just seeing sunny scenes is quite a boost to morale!

[David Nicholson]

Peter, many thanks for taking the time to post these, most enjoyable.

[hadacekf]

Peter,
Super pictures, no. 177 is Gentiana clusii.

[peter hood]

Thanks for all your kind comments - and thanks Franz for the ID.

A few more pictures of mountains in the sun.
Well, we don't take pictures of them in the rain; but there was more snow on the tops after one very wet day.

Two more of the Eiger
Two of the Shreckhorn
and one of the Moench

[peter hood]

Now some Orchids:
Pseudorchis albida - Very common in some places, but very difficult to find one which is open all the way down without dead flowers.

The next one I think ought to be Nigritella rubra, but I'm not sure. Any comments?

Coeloglossum viride - another of those green plants whoich you often overlook - quite frequent here and surprisingly noticeable. In the past I have only seen it when I was taking the picture of another plant nearby.

Epipactis atrorubens

Epipactis helleborine

[peter hood]

A few more orchids

Traunsteinera globosa

Gymnadenia conopsea

Two pictures of Plantanthera biflora

[peter hood]

Now the difficult ones:

123. There were lots of Marsh Orchids, I have guessed Dactylorhiza majalis,but I am open to correction.
(There were also lots of Dactylorhiza fuchsiibut I didn't think my photos were worth posting )

Then three orchids that were the only ones we saw of each species.
320. The untidy orchid - I have guessed at Dactylorhiza incarnata cruenta
301. The next one I would like to call Orchis morio but there seems to be no green on the flowers.
219. The last one might be Orchis palustris
I would appreciate any views or even guesses on the correct ID of any of these four.

[SusanS]

Lovely photos Peter. 

You are much more organised than Darren and I, our photos are still trapped in the camera 

Susan x