The flora in the surroundings of Måløy

text and pictures by Hans Grotenhuis

(translated from Dutch by Alice Teunis)

Due to its position by the sea, the mountains rising steeply up from the sea and fell above, the flora of the southern fjord coast has its own peculiar character and boasts a great variety of plant life. Both the sea and the warm Gulf-stream have a mitigating effect on the climate, the steeply rising coast ensures that there are many gradients (transition zones), and nearby lies the mountainous area with its peculiar, boreal (northern influence) character. All this can be seen around Måløy.

Some of the plant species that are distinctive for the area are displayed beneath, accompanied by a concise description. The English name is followed by the Norwegian and the Latin name. There are 9 pictures/descriptions on this page.

1. Bog-Rosemary - Kvitlyng - Andromeda polifolia

This member of the heather-family (Ericaceae) is very common in all of Scandinavia and can be met with around Måløy on damp peaty soils, along the banks of brooks, in damp heathery moorlands and in wet forests. Just like all other heatherlike plants, Bog-rosemary likes acid soil.

2. Frog Orchid - Grønkurle - Coeloglossum viride

3. Dwarf Cornel - Skrubbær - Cornus suecica

4. Twinflower - Linnea - Linnea borealis

The famous Swedish botanist Linnaeus (Latinised version of his original name: Carl von Linné) has linked his name to this plant. "Borealis" indicates a northerly distribution of the species, but it appears also further south. It grows in light coniferous forests with many mosses on the ground, and above the timber line in vegetations with dwarf bushes.

5. Lesser Twayblade - Småtviblad - Listera cordata

This miniature orchid grows to a height of 10 – 15 cm and flowers very thinly and inconspicuously with small, dark, reddish-brown flowers. It is often found in thick moss-carpets, hidden under bushes. This position prevents the shallow rootstock from drying out. Characteristic are the two opposite leaves on the lower half of the stalk. If you want to find this plant, you have to search very thoroughly!

6. Trailing Azalea - Greplyng - Loiseleuria procumbens

This miniature bush with a height of less than one centimetre creeps over the bare mountain rocks with its woody stalks. The very small, leathery leaflets are perfectly adapted to the inclement circumstances that can sweep over the mountains. The massive flowering with small, pink flowers, is very conspicuous amidst the shades of green, grey and brown of the mountain landscape.

7. Cloudberry - Molte -  Rubus chamaemorus

The Cloudberry may well be the best known mountain plant, not least because of its edible berries. I is not only found in mountainous areas, but also in peat marshes and on peaty spots in open coniferous forests. It never has its feet in the water. It prefers the higher, dryer elevations of peat moss. Its flowers are large, white, and conspicuous. Late in summer the berries appear; they are yellow when fully ripe and that is remarkable, since nearly all members of the bramble-family have blue-black berries.

8. Primrose - Kusymre - Primula vulgaris

This is a species which can be found only in a narrow strip of land along the coast of South and Middle Norway. The plant profits by the influence of the warm Gulf Stream along the Norwegian coast. The area of distribution is rather fragmented: from the Black Sea via Europe, France, the British Isles, to Norway; this is the northern boundary of its area. It grows amongst others in the surroundings of Kråkenes Fyr (Kråkenes lighthouse).

9. Bog Beacon - Sumpklubbemorkel - Mitrula paludosa

This little fungus, the size of a match, grows on rotting leaves in low-nutrient streaming water, in mud-flats and areas with springs. This species is rather fastidious; a rarity, which will not grow just anywhere

text and pictures by Hans Grotenhuis © 2001

other pictures of Norwegian nature

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