Crepis-aurea_4

Description:

Crepis aurea (L.) Cass.Golden Hawk's-beard, DE: Gold-Pippau, RinderblumeSlo.: zlati dimekDat.: June 30. 2009Lat.: 46.40986 Long.: 13.43712Code: Bot_359/2009_DSC0943Habitat: mountain grassland, pasture; slightly inclined mountain slope, locally almost flat terrain; south aspect; calcareous, nutrients rich ground; dry, sunny, open place; exposed to direct rain; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 3-4 deg C, elevation 1.510 m (4.950 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil.Place: 'Pecol' Plateau, north of the parking place at the end of the access road to the plateau, south of Mt. Monta (Mt. Montassio), 2.753 m (9.033 feet) mountain group, West Julian Alps, Friuli, Italy EC. Comment: Crepis aurea, sometimes climbing well above 2.000 m elevation, is a wonderful and dominant player in the colorful orchestra of flowers growing on mountain pastures. Its dominant colors of fire and gold are unique among species of genus Crepis. The heads can have up to 3.5 cm in diameter. There is only one similarly looking and colored plant growing in mountain grassland and that is Hieracium aurantiacum = Pilosella aurantiaca. But it can be easily distinguished from Crepis aurea since it has a few heads of orange flowers grouped on top of each stalk, while Crepis aurea carries only a single one on each stalk. Otherwise, numerous species of genus Crepis (about 30 growing in Slovenia) are mostly yellow and not always easy to be distinguished. In addition, numerous similarly looking species of genera Hieracium, (hawkweeds) Taraxacum (dandelions), Leontodon (hawkbits) and others often make proper determination of these plants of the family Asteracaea (daisy family) quite a challenge.Growing scattered among other plants of picturesque mountain grassland; hundreds of plants present on botanically extraordinary rich plateau of Pecol.Ref.:(1) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora fr sterreich, Liechtenstein und Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 954.(2) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007) (in Slovenian), p 703. (3) L. Fenaroli, Flora delle Alpi, Vegetazione e flora delle Alpi e degle altri monti d'Italia (1971), p 270.(4) T. Wraber, 2 x Sto alpskih rastlin na Slovenskem (2x 100 Alpine Plants of Slovenia) (in Slovenian), Preernova druba (2006) (in Slovenian), p 195.