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Bartsia alpina
The Alpine bartsia (velvetbell) is a plant in the family Orobanchaceae which has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It thrives on a variety of soils in open, light-filled places.
Barren rocky area between glaciers, volcanoes and flood plain, Skaftafell National Park.
This plant is common all over Iceland and can be found in pastures, but also in ravines, on cliffs and on mountain slopes.
Spotted on Jun 21, 2013
Submitted on Sep 2, 2013
3 Comments
Wow! I read about semi-parasite for the first time. I noticed the purple tinge on the leaves in the second pic :-)
Thanks Satyen! I like that the plant has some purple on its leaves too. This is an interesting plant, a semi-parasite: it uses photosynthesis, but also gets some nutrition from other plants.
Nice colours!