Climbing up. Following the slopes and discovering, step by step, a constantly changing landscape. You’ve reached the upper edge of the woods, the trees are sparser, the light penetrates and finally you can see into the distance, across a vast green plain stretching out in front of you: the meadows of the Alpine pastures.
During the dry season, the pastures dry out and turn yellow, but a few days of rain are enough to turn them green and luxuriant again. All thanks to the Graminaceae and Cyperaceae: their flowers aren’t spectacular, but underground they hide long stems and roots that tide them over during the dry spells and help them survive the herbivores’ grazing.
The herbivores are taken up to the pastures in the summer, when the meadows are bright with the colors of the many variegated and scented species of flowers. You can try to pick some of them out: the golden yellow Ranunculus, the Gentians with their blue corollas, the pale blue Bluebells and the alpine Clover (Trifolium alpinum), with its dark pink flowers. Then there is the common Nigritella: a tiny wild orchid with purple flowers and an aroma of vanilla.
