Slovenia The Julian and Karawanken Alps A Greentours Tour Report 18th to 26th July 2011 By Paul Cardy Report and Systematic Lists by Paul Cardy This year’s Slovenia tour produced a wealth of plants, among them some very pleasing new additions to the list. The weather was atypically rather mixed, but only disrupted the itinerary really on one day, when prolonged heavy rain resulted in a very interesting alternative programme, particularly a visit to the UNESCO listed national park at the very impressive Skocjan Caves, in the Karst region. The tour began in the beautifully situated town of Bovec, in the Soca Valley on the western side of Triglav National Park. Our journey there from the airport took us through many picturesque villages, along lovely narrow forested valleys, small scale agriculture and meadows. On the first morning we drove the very short distance to the Kanin cable car station in Bovec. The cable car journey was quite an experience, each gondola holding up to four people, the trip up to 2200m taking some thirty minutes, slowing down at two intermediate stations along the way. Before setting off we saw a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Passing at first over forest, and later open slopes, we saw many plants from the cable car, including Yellow Gentians, and lower down were several Silver-washed Fritillaries and Marbled Whites on the wing. The upper station was shrouded in cloud today, but consequently there were few other visitors up here. We spent the morning ambling slowly over the limestone slopes, finding many fine flowers. The clouds even cleared occasionally revealing great views of the Soca Valley below. We were soon admiring yellow poppies, Papaver aurantiacum, and there were several white Papaver ernesti-mayeri too. The lovely Potentilla nitida was in fine flower, with the associated Phyteuma sieberi, and much Achillea clavennae. Some fine flowering cushions of Mossy Cyphel were in bloom and we found many fine Gentiana pumila. Close inspection of the initially barren appearing screes revealed many of the beautiful pink-flowered Thlaspi rotundifolium. Valeriana supina, and Petrocallis pyrenaica were here and among the saxifrages were Saxifraga squarrosa, Saxifraga aizoides, and Saxifraga crustata in flower. One Ranunculus montanus was in flower, and there was much Viola biflora growing in the shelter of the rocks. Linaria alpina, Paedarota lutea, and Moehringia ciliata were among the many other plants. A delicious soup or sausage lunch was enjoyed in the refugio before we returned to Bovec. On the cable car descent we had a great sight of a Purple Emperor sailing around the canopy. We 1 © Greentours Limited. Visit www.greentours.co.uk for further details. Telephone 01298 83563 also saw a fine patch of the architectural composite Stemmacantha rhapontica that I had first spotted here the previous year. That first afternoon we headed north along the Soca Valley. The Juliana Botanic Garden is justly popular as a local attraction and we had a very enjoyable visit to this small garden packed full with mostly local specialities and several endemics, as well as more mundane species and a few non-natives. Willow Gentian was in bloom here. I was pleased to see such specialities as Pseudolysimachion barrelieri and Peucedanum schottii. Scotch Argus was on the wing, and there were several Chalk-hill Blues. A good find near here was Red Helleborine and a couple of Anemone trifolia still in bloom. Both Aquilegia einseleana and Aquilegia bertolonii were here too. The following day we set out under heavy rain, along the narrow road up to Mangart, the highest road in the country. This is a superb area, but initially the weather up here was terrible, very cold, with even a hail storm. We persevered all morning finding many fine things, sheltering regularly in the vehicle to warm up before venturing out again. Later we retreated a little lower, below the tree line, to set out a picnic lunch, during which the weather improved significantly. So after lunch we returned to the end of the road, and visited all the intended sites, seeing all the hoped for plants in reasonable weather. The bonus of the initially poor weather was that for most of the day there was hardly anyone else up here! The first stop was to admire the very special endemic Campanula zoysii as usual in fine bloom here. We stopped again later in the day to better appreciate it in warmer weather. In the turf Gentiana pumila was common, and in perfect flower. A few Nigritella rhellicani were found, and Saxifraga squarrosa was in perfect flower. Again there was superb Potentilla nitida, with a few Edelweiss on the same rocks. There was a lot of the attractive Sausurrea pygmaea and a few Primula halleri were found in seed. Saxifraga sedoides bloomed at the base of a cliff. Allium victorialis was in good flower. Moonwort, Veronica alpina, Veronica aphylla, Veronica fruticans, Hedysarum hedysaroides, Oxytropis jacquinii and Juncus jacquinii were among other species noted. Among the Campanulas were Campanula cochlearifolia, Campanula scheuchzeri and Campanula witasekiana. The improvement in the weather also revealed fine views down into Italy and across to the peaks of Austria. Net-leaved, Thyme-leaved, and Retuse-leaved Willow formed creeping ground cover and Laserpitium peucedanoides was in attractive fruit. Recent snow melt had much Soldanella pusilla, as well as Ranunculus traunfellneri and Saxifraga androsacea, whilst Saxifraga burseriana was in fruit. There were a few plants of Paederota bonarota, the yellow flowered species being much commoner here. Another stop yielded the always special Chamorchis alpina, as well as Nigritella rubra and at another site was the only Saxifraga tenella of the tour. On the drive down we found Cyclamen purpurascens, Senecio abrotanifolius, and much Helleborus niger in leaf. The only butterfly seen today was Water Ringlet, on the wing as we ate lunch. Alpine Swifts were seen very well as they sped past. The following day, the short drive up and over the Predil pass was beautiful, through lovely forest, on the Italian side the Tarvisio forest. The mountain scenery was superb and it’s hard to believe these are not very high mountains, being only around the 2,500m mark, they certainly look impressive and the limestone formations are reminiscent of the Dolomites. 2 © Greentours Limited. Visit www.greentours.co.uk for further details. Telephone 01298 83563 We headed purposefully for Sella Nevea to take the funivia up towards Monte Canin, on the Italian side of the border, and not far over the pass from where we had been above Bovec on the first day. Today we basked under cloudless blue skies, the views were sublime, and we were already recording many plants on the journey. Once out of the cable car, at about 1800m, there were soon many interesting plants. The path took us across a rather large snow patch close to the refuge. Above us stretched a fine dry valley, with several remaining snow patches. We set out slowly towards the pass, not necessarily intending to reach it, but we did find ourselves doing so. There was so much to see along the way, the floral display being superb. The white Papaver ernesti-mayeri was a fine sight. Also here were a few yellow flowered poppies, Papaver aurantiacum. The blue Linum alpinum was attractive and abundant, there was much Dryas octopetala, and much of the Rhododendron hirsutum was still in fine bloom. The few Rhodothamnus chamecistus had however gone over. Phyteuma sieberi was growing on the boulders, and Phyteuma scheuchzeri was much in evidence. Achillea clavennae was numerous, with a few Achillea atrata. There was much Saxifraga crustata in fine flower, and Saxifraga aizoides too. Ranunculus hybridus was here and Gypsophila repens was numerous. Higher up the vegetation thinned out, but some very special things appeared. Thlaspi rotundifolium became numerous among the poppies, and Ranunculus traunfellneri was in fine flower. At the pass was Potentilla nitida. Beside one of the snow patches were several Soldanella alpina still in flower, and the diminutive Soldanella minima. A highlight came when Trevor spotted an Alpine Ibex below us, close to the refuge. We watched this animal for ages as it walked closer, eventually reaching a small snow patch. Remarkably once at the pass we saw a total of another six Ibex, which approached us even closer. We stood and watched their behaviour for a very long time, a fine experience. The views at the pass were sublime. Returning to the flowers, the large white-flowered Trifolium noricum was a pleasing find. There were two pink flowered louseworts, namely Pedicularis verticillata and Pedicularis rostratocapitata. Biscutella laevigata was common, Valeriana saxatilis flowered on the rocks, and Rhodiola rosea was in flower. This really was a superb wild, open place, and the usual suite of birds of this habitat were much in evidence, Alpine Chough, Alpine Accentor, Wheatears, Water Pipits, Black Redstarts, and Snow Finches. There were few butterflies but we did see Mountain Green-veined Whites, a Mountain Clouded Yellow, Little Blue, Mountain Argus, and an Alpine Grizzled Skipper. The plant highlight came when the endemic Lilium carniolicum was found in superb flower. Some twenty five were here, a tour highlight. There were a few of the more prosaic Martagon Lilies here too. Silene acaulis, Tofieldia calyculata, Crepis aurea, Adenostyles alpina, Cirsium spinosissimum, Valeriana elongata, Bartsia alpina, Myosotis alpestris, Arabis alpina, Thesium pyrenaicum, and Salix retusa were among the many other species recorded here. We ate lunch in the Refugio, a little late but the things that had delayed us had been very special. Returning to Sella Nevea by cable car and back on the road in Italy we made several short stops finding things such as Epipactis helleborine and Epipactis atrorubens.