Valderia The flora Microcosm of the of Alpi Marittime Maritime Alps At present Valderia hosts around 450 The Maritime Alps have been defined as the plants grouped in fourteen different hub of endemic species in the Alps. habitats that represent the principal Here we find a considerable number ecosystems found in the Maritime Alps. of plants that have, to a greater or lesser degree, a limited area of distribution. This lay-out is designed to suit the educational and These are species that define a flora. informative purpose of the gardens, it brings within reach species that would otherwise take hours of walking to find and it also offers a clear, comprehensible picture of the plant life of the Park. Whilst discovering the peculiarities This particular situation is due to a combination of factors, from of the individual flowers there is the added pleasure of the geographical position to the variation in altitude, from the seeing the links between species and how they fit into morphology to the variety of geological substrata. their surroundings. Parco delle Alpi Marittime is a perfect demonstration of the correlation between variety in geomorphology and abundance of animal and botanic species. These extraordinary features translated into numbers are represented by around two thousand higher plant species inside the Park – another five hundred if we consider fungi, moss and ferns – equivalent to a quarter of the entire Italian flora. The habitats The calcareous rockeries host found colonising dry, sunny The spring environment hosts find species typical of alpine stems. The animal pen where lime-loving plants that are slopes between an altitude of species that are found where pasture. stock was held at night is found on the sedimentary 1200 and 2500 metres. water surfaces, in particular The peat bog is a depression in called ‘gias’ in Marittime. outcrops of the lower valley The association of broad- mosses and ferns. In the beech the ground where spring and The soil has a particularly high Gesso and the Valle Grande leaved plants, these higher understorey we can see plants snow melt water collects; here nitrogen content because of that leads to Palanfré. grasses are typical of cool, that require plenty of humus and we find plants that like to grow the concentration of animal silver fir, a species that prefers The riverside is colonized by damp areas. that flower when there is no leaf with their roots in water. It is also droppings and only a few a nutrient-rich soil and a high herbaceous plants commonly The hay meadow hosts cover from the trees above. the typical environment found species are able to grow in it. level of ambient humidity. found on scree, these plants species that favour regular Among the rocks and scree of beside shallow lakes. The soil is Along the banks of the stream With the silver fir we find are adapted to unstable stony manuring and mowing; here the siliceous rockery we find rich in peat, favouring sedge, we find wetland species that spruce and larch. ground; larches too are we find a predominance of most of Alpi Marittime’s exclusively rushes and cotton-grass. favour running water. The accumulation of conifer pioneer species, the forage species usually in endemic species growing. The shrub undergrowth is In the mixed fir wood the needles makes the soil acid, and are often the lower part of the valley. Beyond the upper tree line we made up of bushes with woody predominant species is the so the undergrowth is sparse. 12 14 11 24 13 10 5 seed beds 10 12 13 17 9 8 rest area 25 fountain 7 gardener’s hut 6 14 18 From the plains to the Alps 6 A few of the species found at Valderia 1 ticket kiosk 5 1 Campanula alpestris 1 26 2 Daphne mezereum 1 1 3 Senecio balbisianus G 4 Mysotis alpestris es so 4 5 Papaver rhaeticum d 6 Alchemilla alpina e 7 Primula marginata ll 3 a 8 Aquilegia atrata 2 9 Viola valderia V 10 Lilium bulbiferum a o 11 Scabiosa vestita c l s 12 Linum alpinum l a 7 e l 13 Gentiana kochiana a 14 Epilobium fleischeri t V 15 Silene campanula t 27 a l 16 Gentiana aclepiadea 2 e 17 Lilium martagon d 18 Parnassia palustris 19 Silene cordifolia o s 20 Silene acaulis 21 s 21 Campanula spicata e 22 Rhodiola rosea G 8 23 Rhaponticum scariosum 24 Viola argenteria 25 Eryngium alpinum 26 Gentiana villarsii 27 Allium narcissiflorum 28 Senecio capitatus 1 Calcareous rockery 8 Siliceous rockery 29 Leontopodium alpinum 15 30 Malva moschata 22 28 2 Dry river bed 9 Pasture 3 9 3 Larches 10 Peat bog 4 Broad leaved plants 11 Shrub undergrowth 29 5 Hay meadow 12 Animal pen 16 19 10 6 Spring 13 Stream 7 Understorey 14 Fir wood 4 11 20 23 30 www.parcoalpimarittime.it Tel: 0171 97208 0171 Tel: [email protected] Terme di Valdieri di Terme Fax: 0171 97542 0171 Fax: Park visitor centre (open in summer only) summer in (open centre visitor Park Telephone: 0171 97397 0171 Telephone: Information 12010 Valdieri (CN) Valdieri 12010 Piazza Regina Elena, 30 Elena, Regina Piazza Park information centre information Park Publications and souvenirs and Publications Guided tours (to be booked in advance) in booked be (to tours Guided Services Tickets on sale at the gate the at sale on Tickets Entry From 9 - 12.30 and 14.30 – 18 – 14.30 and 12.30 - 9 From from June 15th to September 15th September to 15th June from Every day Every Opening times Opening Area: 10.000 square metres square 10.000 Area: Altitude 1400 metres 1400 Altitude site the new botanical gardens. botanical new the site Characteristics took the area in hand and used it to it used and hand in area the took Parco Naturale delle Alpi Marittime Alpi delle Naturale Parco to Borgo San Dalmazzo. San Borgo to Colle di Tenda then drop down into Italy into down drop then Tenda di Colle many years until 1990 when the when 1990 until years many up the Valle Roya from Ventimiglia to the to Ventimiglia from Roya Valle the up The gardens lay abandoned for abandoned lay gardens The from the Riviera or Cote d’Azur, you come you d’Azur, Cote or Riviera the from delight of visitors to the spa nearby. spa the to visitors of delight (33 km from Cuneo). If you are coming are you If Cuneo). from km (33 create “the English gardens” for the for gardens” English “the create to Valdieri, Sant’Anna and Terme di Valdieri di Terme and Sant’Anna Valdieri, to Dalmazzo. Take the SP 22 Valle Gesso road Gesso Valle 22 SP the Take Dalmazzo. and walkways were constructed to constructed were walkways and follow signs for Cuneo then Borgo San Borgo then Cuneo for signs follow and so in the 18th century paths century 18th the in so and Mondovì junction (coming from Savona); from (coming junction Mondovì It is a cool place with lush vegetation lush with place cool a is It Fossano junction (coming from Torino) or Torino) from (coming junction Fossano Motorway (A6 Torino-Savona), leave at leave Torino-Savona), (A6 Motorway How to get there get to How botanist Carlo Allioni. Carlo botanist the river by the Piedmontese the by river the The discovery was made near made was discovery The in 1780 in this very area. very this in 1780 in an endemic violet first classified first violet endemic an , valderia Viola name to name “Valderia” owes its owes “Valderia” Maritime Alps. Maritime in the heart of the of heart the in drawings by Claudio Giordano reaches of the Gesso valley Gesso the of reaches botanic gardens botanic at Terme di Valdieri, in the upper the in Valdieri, di Terme at Valderia The botanic gardens “Valderia” is situated is “Valderia” gardens botanic The nineteenth century nineteenth foto di Giorgio Pallavicini e Archivio PNAM • 305 Pallavicini e Archivio foto di Giorgio the since Alpine Gardens Alpine Valderia the trail 7 a discovery walk 6 14 8 13 15 12 9 11 16 10 17 5 18 19 Inside the garden there is a nature trail, to walk the 4 circuit takes about an hour, 20 3 21 it is 950 metres long 2 22 and gains 1 60 metres 23 in height. 24 Along the walk are numbered observation posts, the numbers refer to chapters in the NatureTrail-Terme di Valdieri booklet (on sale at the gate). This handy booklet points out the main features of the species encountered in the broad leafed and conifer wood. Attention is also drawn to the main geological and landscape features. observation points the silver fir wood mosses the silver fir the larch tree the renewal of silver fir trees the dead tree the uprooted fir tree ferns the sycamore the leaf litter reading the landscape mushrooms and toadstools the spruce chamois tracks the scree and boulders songbirds rock lichens a panoramic view of Monte Matto the shrubs in the undergrowth the rowan or mountain ash the old mule track the pioneers of the crags the coppice the beech tree.