Zermatt 2024 Day 11: Rotenboden Revisited

Lilium martagon

Again, we marvelled at the colony of Lilium martagon beside the railway tracks as we climbed out of town, before we reached the Findelbach Falls.

The weather was clear and warm, and we had wonderful views up the valley past Tasch as the train wound its way higher.

Thlaspi rotundifolium

We alighted at Rotenboden, but instead of taking the normal path down through the Botanic Garden towards the Riffelsee, we followed the track beside the railway downhill until we came to an underpass where we could cross the line.  Beside this path, there was a rocky outcrop adorned with crevice plants, including Thlaspi rotundifolium, Primula hirsuta, Silene acaulis and Gentiana brachyphylla.

Saxifraga oppositifolia

We hoped the paths on the far side of the railway line would be a little less popular, and the map suggested there would be north facing rock outcrops which might be worth exploring.  In the event, the north sides of these outcrops, whilst clearly home to Saxifraga oppositifolia and potentially other interesting plants, were mainly still snowbound, and we were unable to investigate the overhangs.

Androsace vandellii

However, determined exploration of the more accessible south-facing rocks yielded ferns, some fine specimens of Primula hirsuta, and a few plants of Androsace vandellii.

Saxifraga androsacea

One gulley held a colony of Saxifraga androsacea, which we had seen previously in the Dolomites, but not here in Switzerland.

Diphasiastrum alpinum ?

The path led up, past large patches of snow, to a rather depauperate area, with large flat sheets of rock amid scree.  The only plants in flower here were Silene acaulis, small clumps of Draba aizoides and Gentiana schleicheri, along with a branching club-moss which might have been Diphasiastrum alpinum.  I spent a long time searching for anything else of interest, with little success.

Eventually, I returned to where Helen was waiting, reading the map, trying to identify a curious igloo-like building on the slopes below her.

We crossed under the railway again, and descended through the botanic garden, past the pale blue spring gentian that we had called Gentiana schleicheri on our previous trip, an identification that I am not entirely comfortable with.

Tussilago farfara

We debated a while where we should go next.  One possibility was to follow the path above the glacier which I started along on our previous visit.  The views were spectacular, but I only found very familiar plants.  So we decided to walk up, along the rail line, towards some rocky outcrops and snow drifts we could see above us.  The path was busy, but Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) was blooming around the edge of the melting snow.

Rumex nivalis ?

Before long, we turned off the main path to explore some rocky outcrops. I think this curious little plant nestling in a crevice is Snow Dock, Rumex nivalis.

Primula hirsuta

Big clumps of Primula hirsuta were also squeezed into the cracks, but sadly they had mostly finished flowering.

Gentiana brachyphylla ?

We also found small spring gentians, possibly Gentiana brachyphylla (?).

Thlaspi rotundifolium

These rocks and grassy slopes were covered with clumps of Thlaspi, in a range of colours from lilac pink to white.  By now, I was aware that they were tricky to identify, and tried to include photos of the leaves.  It is too simplistic to call the various colours of pink Thlaspi rotundifolium, and the white ones Thlaspi sylvium – I have seen white forms of T. rotundifolium elsewhere.

I have ended up calling the ones with compact rosettes of ‘roundish’ leaves T. rotundifolium and the taller ones with leaves sheathing the stem, growing in longer grass at the base of the outcrops T. sylvium.  But it is hard to believe that this colony is a mix of two different species with no hybridisation between them.

Thlaspi sylvium

These are the plants I decided were probably Thlaspi sylvium.

Liskamm and Gornergletscher

We stopped here for lunch, with wonderful views up the glacier towards Lizkamm.  I was fascinated by the way the mackerel sky gave a dappled pattern of shadows on the snow and ice.

Directly across the valley from us was the Breithorn, with two glaciers running down from it, the Breithorngletscher and the Schwarzegletscher, separated by a rocky ridge shown in the third picture.

Gagea fragifera

The turf floor of the little dip we were sitting in was dotted with Gagea fragifera and Androsace carnea.

After lunch, we retraced our steps, back down to the bottom of the botanic garden.  I left Helen sitting on a rock with a view of the Matterhorn, which she used to take a series of selfies while I crossed to the Riffelhorn.  I hoped the north-facing rocks would hold some different plants.

Cicindela sylvicola

On my way, I encountered an interesting green and cream beetle running across the path.  I believe this is a Green Tiger Beetle, Cicindela sylvicola.

As I approached the Rifflehorn, I came to another small lake, bordered by snowdrifts.  The top of the Gornergletscher and Liskamm were reflected in the lake.

The rocky cliff on the far side of this pool held large clumps of Saxifraga oppositifolia, Silene acaulis and what may have been Saxifraga moschata, but with the water and the snow, these were completely inaccessible. This was a shame – there were plants there I can’t identify from the long shots I took.

Silene acaulis

However, the outcrops on my side of the pool also held large cushions of Silene acaulis.

Myosotis species

I also found rock roses (Helanthemum canum) on the rock outcrops and a little forget-me-not (Myosotis species) I haven’t identified.

These rocks were high above the Riffelsee, and in places the natural crevice garden got contorted into great twisted swirls of rock (apparently metamorphic serpentinite).  The ground was dotted with spring gentian seedlings and Draba aizioides.

Saxifraga oppositifolia

The only plants I could find on the areas of cliff I could access easily were large cushions of Saxifraga oppositifolia.

I descended slowly around the north side of the Riffelhorn, with spectacular views of the Matterhorn as it came into view over the shoulder of the Riffelhorn.

Before long, I had got down to the lake, and was taking photos of Senecio incanus leaves amongst the bright orange lichen.  The opposite shore was full of photographers snapping the iconic view of the Matterhorn reflected in the lake.

I returned around the lake to Helen, waiting patiently, past the many visitors photographing the Matterhorn in the Riffelsee.

After a few last shots of the Kleine Matterhorn, the cable cars crossing the glacier towards it, and the snowclad summit of the Breithorn, we returned to the train station.

On our descent, we saw from the train a vast colony of vanilla orchids (Nigritella nigra subsp rhellicani) on a ridge above RiffelAlp, and Campanula barbata and Aquilegia alpina (?) lower down as we approached the Findelbach, before passing the meadow full of Lilium martagon.

In a way, this day was a little disappointing.  We wanted to get up high, and see the plants close to the snow line.  I explored several new areas without finding much of note, but I had no idea where to look, and similar spontaneous forays on other days were more successful.