Pagina 69 - Juliana_Book_eng

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This perennial herb is hairless, 30-60 cm tall, with a mostly unbranched stem. The leaves are palmately divided into
five to seven lobes. The stem is usually monofloral.
“The large, bright flower is almost round and has 10-15 extensive convex sepals, which conceal the inner parts. There
are 5-20 petals; they are elongated and insignificant in comparison with sepals, with a shallow depression near the
bottom, in which honey is accumulated.”
So wrote Martin Cilenšek in 1892 in his work Our Harmful Plants in Images and Texts.
Globeflowers are distributed in Europe, in the Caucasus and Arctic North America. In Slovenia, they can be found in
rocky wet grasslands, among shrubs, in damp open forests and on scree from the montane to the subalpine belts of the
Alpine and prealpine region and on Mt Snežnik.
Valeriana tripteris L. subsp. austriaca E. Walther – Three-leaved
Valerian
This plant, up to 60 cm tall and opaquely bluish green coloured has entire
lower leaves and trifoliate stem leaves, which gave the plant its name. The
flowers, arranged in umbrella-shaped corymbs, are mostly whitish or pink, and
are pollinated by insects. The fruits are nutlets dispersed by wind.
The species can be found in forests, on rocks and scree, from the montane to
the subalpine zones, all over Slovenia. The general distribution extends to the
southern and central European mountains.
Veratrum lobelianum Bernh. – Lobel's (Green) False Hellebore
(Veratrum album subsp. lobelianum)
This at least 50 cm high plant has wide ovate or elliptic leaves. The flowers,
arranged in racemes, have 6 green or greenish yellow tepals.
It can be found in wet meadows, open forests, pastures and amongst tall herbs
in the montane and subalpine belts. In Slovenia it occurs in the Alps, Mt
Porezen, Mt Ratitovec, Polhograjski Mts and Trnovski gozd. The general
distribuzion estends widely on the European mountains and in Asia.
Very similar to this species is the European white false hellebore (Veratrum
album subsp. album) which, however, has white tepals and is more common in
the eastern part of Slovenia (Pohorje, Snežnik).
False hellebores are highly toxic, for they contain alkaloids that cause
vomiting, diarrhea, severe pains in the stomach and intestine, severe breathing
difficulties and even death.
Veratrum nigrum L. – Black False Hellebore
The black false helleborine is the plant with the darkest flowers in the
Slovenian flora. They are reddish brown to dark brown, or even darker.
The plant is highly toxic, since it contains alkaloids. Its generic name is
supposedly derived from the Latin verus (true, real) and ater (black). In the
distant past, the grinded rhizomes were used as a means for sneezing, which
allegedly cleared the brain and mind. When we sneeze, we confirm the truth
and say: “It’s true!” This is one of the explanations, although probably a wrong
one, of the Latin term!
In Slovenia, this plant is most common in the Karst, Soča valleys and in the
Zasavje regions, but can also be found along Lake Bohinj.
The black false helleborine is an eastern European-Asian species, present in the
southern Alpine region, Czech Republic, Hungary, Balkans, up to Siberia and Kamchatka.
Vicia oroboides Wulfen – Broad-leaved Vetch
Among the especially interesting and notable Slovenian plants are also those wich have the typical locality in Slovenia.
The term ‘typical locality’ refers to the place where a botanist saw the plant, studied it and described it as a new
species.
One of such plants is the broad-leaved vetch. In 1790 it was described by naturalist Franc Ksaver Wulfen (1728-1805),