A Fabulous Carpet Of Meadows. Part 4

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Interesting are meadow species of the norichnik family, we are talking about mullein: purple and yellow-flowered, spreading and cotton, and others; flaxseed: Caucasian, Meyer (endemic to the Central Caucasus), etc.; norichniki: small, rocky, soft (growing on rocks and under their cover) and others; Veronica: widespread spring and gentian, spicate, shallow highland inhabitant, key - living in damp places and shallow water bodies

Peculiar

proboscis oriental with an arcuate curved lip of a flower, resembling an elephant trunk.

In the green tone, the meadows are interspersed with lilac and yellow spots

mytniks

Continuous thickets are usually not given. Their leaves are openwork, like lace, the flowers are like snapdragons. In the compressed mytnik, the flowers are collected in a long brush and are visible from a distance. There are also mytniks in our meadows: Caucasian, thick-nosed, more rare - Tatyana and others. Mytniks are semi-parasites. Photosynthesis is carried out by themselves, and water and minerals are taken from neighbors, to whose roots they stick. Mytnik's relatives -

marianiki meadow, Caucasian and field - have bright two-color flowers, like a miniature traffic light.

Interesting appearance of the green "bell"

rattle

Nondescript greenish-yellow flowers. When the wind gusts, ripe seeds rattle in a dry box like a rattle. In the meadow, many cereals suffer from it - timothy, bluegrass and sedges, to the roots of which it sticks. It has spring, summer and autumn varieties (races), due to which it does not fall on meadows mown at different times. On poor soils, it is abundant in places; the rattles small, spring and Shishkina are more common.

In the meadows, we will also meet a small grass from the Norichnikov family, similar to a rattle in its behavior. This is

eyebright - densely covered with small toothed leaves sitting opposite each other. On the stems are small white flowers with purple dots. She, like rattles, sticks to the roots of other plants. She also has three races: spring, summer and autumn. Spring blooms before mowing. Its stalk does not branch, there are few flowers. Summer, blooming later, found where the mowing is late, the stem branches. Autumn - waits for mowing in the form of a rosette, and only then blooms.

Burnet medicinal - a massive plant in mountain meadows, especially on limestones. It is an excellent fodder and medicinal plant, a good honey plant.

Typical types of meadows are

gentian: angular, Markovicha, Dzhimil, seven-split and tiny water gentian.

These are valuable ornamental plants. In the mountain meadows, there is a real expanse for gentians. They adapt perfectly to harsh conditions. Their flowers are like a miniature gramophone or like a narrow glass. Gentians are inhabitants of alpine lawns. Their flowers are magnificent against the background of bright gloomy stone peaks and lifeless glaciers. On frosty nights, the flowers freeze and become like glass, but warmed by the sun, they continue to delight the eye.

Quite familiar in the meadows

cuffs with rounded projections on the leaves: silk with silky pubescent lobes and Caucasian. The leaves of the cuffs, similar to wide funnels, always attract attention after the rain. A silvery ball of water accumulates in them. Their flowering is not very noticeable. Small yellowish-green flowers differ little in color from leaves. Cuffs are good pasture plants, they are readily eaten by livestock. Distributed in meadows with intensive grazing.

Large meadow plant

meadowsweet usually grows in highly moist soils. It has a tall stem with pinnate leaves and lush honey-scented buds.