Paederota-bonarota_13

Description:

Paederota bonarota (L.) L., syn.: Veronica bonarotaBluish Paederota, DE: Buonarota-Ehrenpreis, Blues Mnderle, Blau-Mnderle, Wildes Manndele, Dolomiten-EhrenpreisSlo.; modro miljeDat.: July 12. 2014Lat.: 46.43862 Long.: 13.63022Code: Bot_811/2014_IMG6192Habitat: vertical face of a high stony road cut, south oriented mountain slope, calcareous ground, full sun, partly protected from direct rain, elevation 1.780 m (5.840 feet), average temperature 1-3 deg C, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil in rock crevices.Place: Mt. Mangart's flats, rocky road cut near the last tunnel of Mt. Mangart alpine road, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC Comment: Paederota bonarota is in Slovenia known only from the highest regions of west most parts of Julian Alps. It is an endemic species strictly bound to calcareous ground and limited to calcareous south Alps and a few isolated locations in calcareous north Alps near Saltsburg in Austria (Ref.:3). In Slovenia it is much rarer than its quite common 'brother' Paederota lutea Scop., which has similar habitus and habitat, but pale yellow flowers. Also Paederota lutea is endemic but limited to south-east Alps.Nothing similar to Paederota bonarota exists in Slovenia. So the correct determination of (both) species is easy. Photographed plants were growing scattered in many rock crevices along vertical road cut.Ref.:(1) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije, Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007) (in Slovene), p 554. (2) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 2., Haupt (2004), p 238.(3) W. Langer, H. Sauerbier, Endemishe Pflanzen der Alpen (I), IHW-Verlag (1997), ISBN 3-930167-22-0, p 134.(4) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora sterreich Liechtenstein, Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 729.