References on the local flora

We enjoy writing about the local wildlife as we are ourselves enchanted by how much the area with its unique biodiversity has to offer. Quite a number of texts on the local flora are written by Gabriel Blanca. This botanist and leading Spanish taxonomist is a professor at the University of Granada. He has dedicated part of his academic and scientific career to the study of the flora of eastern Andalusia and the study and conservation of endemic and threatened flora. An important publication that we often consult is Flora amenazada y endémica de Sierra Nevada (pdf 18MB), published by the Universidad de Granada in 2001. Many guidebooks like Guía de visita Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada count on his contributions. We hope that our posts on the local flora and fauna are appreciated by those interested in the natural heritage of the Sierra Nevada, but that do not know Spanish. We use the texts of Gabriel Blanca and his collaborators as a source of information for our ´flora posts´. An important reference to which we quite regularly make direct links are the texts Merche S. Calle and Juan Enrique Gómez, authors of the Guía de Plantas of the online magazine Waste. Another important source of information is the publication Flores Silvestres de Andalucía de Gabriel García Guardia, published by Editorial Rueda in 1988.

Semana Cultural Juviles 2010

The VII Semana Cultural de Juviles will this year be held from the 30th of July to the 4th of August. This is the programme of this cultural week, that can also be found on the website of the Ayuntamiento de Juviles.

Música en las Montañas, La Taha 2010

The VII Festival ´Música en las Montañas´, a series of summer concerts of classical music, will take place from July to September. The concerts are on old threshing circles, village squares or in churches of differrent villages in the Taha valley. The first concert will be given by the Coral Ciudad de Granada on Friday the 30th of July in Pitres. The festival ´Music in the Mountains´ is organized by the Alexander Music School in Ferreirola and the Ayuntamiento de La Taha.

Viola crassiuscula or Sierra Nevada violet

The Viola crassiuscula is one of the more than sixty endemic plants of Sierra Nevada. There are other violas in the massif, like Viola palustris and Viola riviniana, but this Nevada violet is the only one that can be found exclusively in Sierra Nevada above 2,500 metres. It is a perennial and multi-stemmed species (caespitose) with flowers that range from violet to pinkish to white. After flowering, small fruit capsules are produced that split open by way of three valves to release tiny seeds. As there are few insects in the high peak area, flowers need to compete to be pollinated. The flower needs to seduce the insect with attractive colours and well developed petals. The flower is relatively large compared to the size of the plant itself. In Sierra Nevada the precious viola can be found between cracks in the rock faces. It is small and it has a minimum of foliage in order to minimize the loss of water by transpiration. Having little folliage makes them also less interesting for the mountain goats. It finds shelter by the rocks so that the negative effect of the strong solar radiation, typical at this height, is minimal. The rocks also protect them from being eaten or trampled. These are a few examples of the adaptations through thousands of years to survive the harsh climatic circumstances of the ´pisos oro y crioromediterráneo´ (oromediterranean and crioromediterranean levels). The most striking adaptation is its ability to sprout from the root collar that goes as deep as the ´stable´ ground. Because of this adaptation, the Nevada violet can survive on steep stony slopes or ´canchales´. This are ´pedregales móviles´ or ´cascajales sueltos´, gravelly areas with unstable schist slabs. When the slates or stones move and the stems break, the plant is able to sprout again. Viola crassiuscula was scientifically catagolized by the French naturalist Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1778-1846), who published in 1820 his Florule de Sierra Nevada. Viola crassiuscula is listed as rare and vulnerable, and therefor included in the Lista roja de la flora vascular de Andalucía (Red List of Vascular Flora of Andalusia). It is said that it is more common where the human presence is more limited. Personally we did see the Viola crassiuscula at one of the busier areas, namely very close to the top of the Mulhacén. We also saw a number of these botanical jewels where we think very few people go, namely near the source of the Río Chico de Bérchules, not too far from the top of the Cerro del Gallo. We were really pleased to see a few white ones, which are said to be less common.

Related article:
-Guía de visita Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada
-References on the local flora

Related key words: violeta de sierra nevada, sierra nevada viooltje, sierra nevada veilchen, sierra nevada violette, violaceae, violet family, viooltjesfamilie, familie der veilchengewächse, famille des violacées

Guía de visita Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada

There are a number of publications available on the Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada, but there is one that we think that deserves special attention. This is the Guía de Visita del Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada, published in 2004. In its introduction we can read that the National Park of Sierra Nevada wants to offer visitors a handy guide that gives a complete and realistic picture of its natural, cultural and environmental values. "In this guide, visitors will find a detailed description of its infrastructures, visitor´s service points, suggestions for activities and itineraries that allows them to plan their visit and get the most out of it." We personally think that this guide offers a lot more than you expect after reading this introduction. The vital adaptations of the different species through their evolutional process over thousands of years are described for example. Natural and ecological features are explained in detail which gives visitors a very good idea of the complex interrelationships. Last week we wondered why we find the most exclusive botanical jewels in the peak areas where you would think that nothing could surive. We found the answer to this question in this guide. In fact there are many answers as each species has its special story to tell. As we will dedicate posts to the botanical jewels and the endemic fauna, we will certainly refer to this excellent visitor´s guide of the Sierra Nevada.



Related article:
- References on the local flora

Related links.
-website Parque Sierra Nevada