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Rock soapwort

Type of houseleek

Moss campion grows in lovely round cushions of pointed bright green leaves dotted with tiny pink blooms, known by mountain-dwellers as ‘marmot bread’! It grows especially slowly, producing veritable miniature trees over a lifespan of 20–30 years. The dainty lacy-edged parsley fern (cryptogramma crispa from crypto, ‘hidden’), a type of rock-brake fern, can be found sheltering beneath stones at high altitudes. Low-lying hardy pink alpenrose, a type of rhododendron, often grows in association with woods of larch and bilberries.

Marshy zones are unfailingly interesting, with fluffy-topped cotton grass and bright marsh marigolds. A less apparent plant, with lilac-white blooms, is fascinating insect-devouring butterwort, its Latin name pinguicula a derivation of ‘greasy, fatty’ due to the viscosity of its leaves which double as insect traps. Victims are digested over two days, unwittingly supplying nitrogen and phosphorous for the host’s growth. In contrast dry sun-beaten hillsides are often home to succulents, chiefly the houseleek or sempervivum – a bit like a Triffid – along with a yellow variety of stonecrop.