Before I ever saw it for the first time, I knew about this flower from TV documentaries where they show it growing and flowering through the snow. I first saw it in exactly that sort of position, behind a rock amongst snow patches on the way up to the 6,000 foot peak Debela Pec in Slovenia in 2001 but the photos were poor. At last in 2014 I found Soldanella alpina growing through snow (see below).

In the Austrian Tyrol there seemed to be far fewer of these flowers but the LHS photo above was one of them. Walking in the Tyrol and the Alps is the laziest hill-walking I know: you take the funicular railway or the car to about 5,000 feet where, in summer the restaurants primarily built for winter skiers, stay open. A slightly undulating walk amongst the alpines is possible for most people - ending in a drink and a meal.

As well as the Austrian Tyrol, Soldanella alpina can be found in the central Pyrenees, the Alps and the Apennines at heights of up to 10,000 feet.

Soldanella alpina Alpine Snowbell Passo San Pellegrino, Dolomites 1st July 2014 Previous   Next	Soldanella alpina Alpine Snowbell flowering in the snow Passo Fedaia, Dolomites, 30th June 2014 Previous   Next	Soldanella alpina Alpine Snowbell Passo Giau, Dolomites, 28th June 2014 Previous   Next
Soldanella alpina Alpine Snowbell group	Soldanella alpina Alpine Snowbell through snow	Soldanella alpina Alpine Snowbell close

LHS: Austrian Tyrol 12th June 2002 RHS: Passo Giau Dolomites, 28th July 2014

Added on 20th October 2004, amended on February 4th 2005, corrected 24th December 2005, updated 9th February 2012, updated 21st July 2014