The wetlands

The flora of the wetlands flourishes wherever there is water – on the surface, underground or in rivulets hidden by the rocks. Here, when the snow melts, rushes and sedges elongate their stems alongside dwarf willows, with their dark, thick, rounded leaves. Towards summer’s end you might see what appear to be soft colored cushions resting on some of the rocks. They are flowers: the yellow ones are fall saxifrage and the fuchsia ones are Fleicher’s carnation. Orchids, cotton grass and chives instead grow in the boggy meadows, and along the banks of the torrents. Around the ponds there are two species of cotton grass with plain flowers, which become white puffballs when they mature: Eriophorum angustifolium and Eriophorum scheuchzeri.