Image of Edraianthus graminifolia

Description:

Slo.: travnolistna vrica - Habitat: stony subalpine grassland, southeast inclined mountain slope, close to mountain peak; calcareous ground, open place, full sun, dry place; exposed to direct rain, fully exposed to wind; average precipitations ~2.800 mm/year, average temperature 2-4 deg C, elevation 1.750 m (5.750 feet), Dinaric phytogeographical region. - Substratum: stony soil. - Comment: Mt. Snenik, 1.796 m (5.900 feet) in one of the most interesting places for botanists in Slovenia. As the most south standing high elevation 'outpost' of the southeast Alps, the Liburnian karst (NW Dinaric Alps) and bordering to mountains of Balkan Peninsula, it has very unique flora with a rich mixture of Alpine and Dinaric species along with some very interesting endemic plants. One can find Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) and typical warmth loving Dinaric elements growing next to each other. One of the latter is also Edraianthus graminifolia, a Balkan endemic with a disjunct distribution on the Apennines, Sicily and Carpathian Mountains. Beautiful, intensive blue bells of this plant can easily be confused with similarly looking species of genus Campanula. The differences between both are subtle for an amateur. The most distinguishing pertain to the fruits and the way how seeds are dispersed. Edraianthus graminifolia is a rare plant in Slovenia and can be found only on three isolated places: on Mt. Snenik, in Trnovski gozd Mountains and in the mountains near Koevje town. The plant is enlisted in the Slovene Red List of rare and endangered species, marked by 'R' representing a rare species. - Ref.: (1) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije, Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 632. (2) N. Jogan (ed.), Gradivo za Atlas flore Slovenije (Materials for the Atlas of Flora of Slovenia), CKSF (2001), p138 (3) R. Domac, Flora Hrvatske (Flora of Croatia), kolska knjiga, Zagreb (2002), p 331. (4) http://www2.arnes.si/~popsd1s/ilbi/botanika.html