The cold is getting closer and I am very happy (in spite of many lovers of the summer heat ^-^). A few weeks ago on the mountains around Cogne I happened to meet a really beautiful and unique plants that always suggests images of glaciers and permanent snow, Dryas octopetala, or Camedrio Alps.
suffruticosa This little plant is part of the family Rosaceae, and is generally only on Alps and on the highest peaks of the Apennines from about 1500 to 2500 m above sea level. He lives on gravel and stone at the base of vertical cliffs and you can see its beautiful white blooms from June to August, but in some sheltered south-facing gorges its flowers can withstand very well until mid September.
Its uniqueness lies in the fact of being a "glacial relict", that is one of those species that have survived the last glaciation with very slow migration to the south, on the relief that the days of the Quaternary (approximately 2 million years ago) were not covered by ice and perpetual snow: it is for this reason that today we can find only in the Arctic areas and on Alps.
Turning to his name, "Dryas" refers to the particular shape of the leaves, very similar to those of the oak, which in Latin was called "drys." But as usual we can find an alternative version of the etymology of the generic name: it is thought that Linnaeus, in naming this genus of plants, we redid the Dryads, the ancient god of the forests held by the immortal Greek. [I find that the second version is much more intriguing and exciting]. The species name "Just octopetala", is simply to indicate the number of petals in the corolla is formed [8, of course ...].
I could not find information on various herbal essence or medicinal uses, but I assume that, being a rather rare and little known species, you will not are many or even none.
Now I leave you with a recipe for the cold weather arrives [hopefully not as cold as the last Ice Age!] chicken and baked potatoes , and leave you with an image of the Valley Grauson where I met this beautiful plant "glacial."
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