Zermatt 2024 Day 1: Zmutt

Setting Out

We had decided to walk along the valley to the southwest towards the hamlet of Zmutt, stop for coffee there and then return.  Initially our walk took us southwards up the main street of the town. We climbed slowly past some of the grand hotels and the catholic church of St Mauritius.

We missed our intended route, up the side of the valley to the right (west).  But after about a kilometre, the road brought us down beside the river, and the Matterhorn loomed above the meadows ahead of us.

As soon as we left the road, the meadows were full of flowers. These included:

• umbellifers,
• Scabious (Knautia species),
• Salvia pratensis,
• Silene vulgaris,
• Vicia cracca,
• Vicia sepium,
• Tragopogon seedheads,
• Mignonette (Reseda species), and
• a yellow crucifer, probably from cultivation.

Achillea millefolium

In some areas the ground was dotted with the little white plates of Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and the round heads of red and white clover (Trifolium pratense, Trifolium repens), together with the bright yellow of Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).

Silene vulgaris

Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris) formed part of the mix.

Pimpinella major ?

There were also pink umbels, which I assumed were Pimpinella major, without examining them closely.

Verbascum lychnitis

We saw several large plants of White Mullein coming into flower.

Knautia species

The pink heads of scabious bobbled in the breeze.  I think the lilac ones were probably Knautia arvensis, the pinks ones which look more domed seem to be Knautia purpurea, which is endemic to the Mattertal valley.  But the photos don’t contain enough details to be sure.  I am always fascinated by the way the flowers wave around, and never think to wade in and photograph the lower leaves and bracts.

Anthericum liliago

We were proceeding very slowly, noting every flower.  Our first sighting of Anthericum liliago (St Bernard’s Lily) pleased us all.  I have never seen it wild before, and Diane has only encountered it in ones and twos.  The massed groups we saw this year where spectacular..

Plantago serpentina

I thought this plantain was lovely, with its long heads and primrose-yellow stamens.  Again it was new to me; it has long thin leaves, and I think it is probably Plantago serpentina.  Amongst it were the much more familiar heads of Hoary Plantain (Plantago media).

Phyteuma orbiculare

The familiar deep blue heads of Round-headed Rampion (Phyteuma orbiculare) soon appeared.

Heracleum sphondylium subsp sphondylium

Diane stopped to photograph the flowers of this hogweed.

Unknown Umbellifer

Later on, I photographed another umbellifer; this time I’m not sure what it is.  It doesn’t look the same as the previous Heracleum.  Diane says this is Heracleum spondylium subsp. elegans, which seems pretty likely.

Salvia pratensis

Our next stop was to photograph a bank of Salvia pratensis, with pale, regular and dark forms growing together.

Trifolium montanum

Diane remarked on the white clover growing with the Salvia, as it was unfamiliar to her.  For me, it was an old friend from the Dolomites, Trifolium montanum.

Carpets of flowers covered these meadows, now including yellow hawkweed, bistort (Polygonum bistorta), and ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare).

Campanula scheuchzeri

There were two different Campanula species growing among the meadow grasses.  The first was familiar from the Dolomites – Campanula scheuchzeri.

Campanula rhomboidalis

The other had upright stems of outward looking bells.  It might have been Campanula persicifolia, but it didn’t look that robust.  After perusing Flora Helvetica, I have come to the view that it may well be a less familiar species, Campanula rhomboidalis.

Helianthemum oelandicum subsp. alpestre

On the banks there were rockroses, probably Helianthemum oelandicum subsp. alpestre.

Silene nutans

Under bushes, where there was a little shade, we saw Geranium pyrenaicum, and Silene nutans (Nottingham Catchfly).

Whilst we were busy taking pictures beside the path, cows browsed the meadow above.

Potentilla rupestris

Our path started passing through trees, yielding shadier banks and some different plants.  One interesting find was a white Potentilla, masquerading as Ranunculus aconitifolius.

Laserpitium latifolium

Elsewhere we found the little Meadow Vetchling, Lathyrus pratensis (a weed in my garden) and the curious and unexpected leaves of a late summer flowering umbellifer, Laserpitium latifolium.

Phyteuma betonicifolium

As well as the round heads of Phyteuma orbiculare, we encountered the blue spikes of another Phyteuma.  I am fairly certain that these were Phyteuma betonicifolium, though Diane I think is less convinced.  The stem leaves follow the line of the stem.

Sempervivum tectorum

As the banks beside the path grew steeper and rockier, we encountered our first House Leek, Sempervivum tectorum.

Potentilla argentea ?

By the path, we found another puzzle, a quite tall yellow Potentilla, with a rather curious habit and leaves.  Originally, I thought this might be Potentilla neglecta – there are a lot of pictures of that on the web which look like this. But revisiting it, I wonder if it was a tall, shaded form of Potentilla argentea, which we saw on our last day, out in the open where it was a lot more compact.  That would fit with Flora Helvetica better.  Nearby was a strong clump of Thalictrum minus, the little meadow-rue.

Juniperus sabina

Between the path and the now considerable drop to the stream, junipers grew.  I didn’t question the species at the time, but I think this is Juniperus sabina, not J. communis.

Lactuca perennis

It was exciting to find the little blue chicory-like flowers of Lactuca perennis.  Who would have thought this blue daisy was related to the lettuce?

Stachys recta

More familiar were the creamy white flowers of Stachys recta.

Populus tremula

A little copse of aspens (Populus tremula) replaced the junipers.

Such was the multitude of flowers, and the excitement with which we greeted them, that we were not making the progress we had planned.

Instead of continuing to Zmutt for lunch, we stopped on a bench.  In the meadow below us, a marmot was running between burrows; above him rose the Matterhorn.  By now a light drizzle was starting, and our raincoats came out before we set off again.

Anthericum liliago

Soon we came upon a larger patch of Anthericum liliago.

Campanula spicata

Close by, I found another Campanula, this time the dense spike of C. spicata.

Allium oleraceum

With this, there were the buds of an onion, which we later identified as Allium oleraceum.

Our path had started to ascend more steeply, and the Zmuttbach below us was roaring, tumbling down over rocks and boulders.

Every meadow we passed seemed to contain a little hut.  This far from the town, these were more traditional, with roofs made from huge overlapping slates.

Saxifraga paniculata

The white stars of Saxifraga paniculata dotted the steep, shaded rocky banks along the side of the path. There was no grass here; the saxifrages grew in a mulch of pine needles.

Erysimum rhaeticum

Surprisingly, we also found a little wallflower growing in the pine duff.  This can only be Erysimum rhaeticum.

Hieracium pilosella

Hawkweeds also grew on these shady banks.  The little pale yellow one is Hieracium pilosella, but we saw at least two larger, darker yellow species.  One might have been Hieracium murorum.

Turritis glabra

A tall narrow spike bearing white crucifer flowers proved to be Turritis glabra.

Euphorbia cyparissias

Amongst the Saxifraga paniculata we saw the lime-yellow bracts of Euphorbia cyparissias, some turning orange as the flowers went to seed.

Gypsophila repens

There were many familiar flowers on these rocky woodland banks, including a forget-me-not which was probably Myosotis sylvatica, and Gypsophila repens.

Vincetoxicum hirundinaria

Our next plant was one which I had seen just once before, in the Picos de Europa in Spain.  This poisonous plant used to be used as an antidote to poison, hence its generic name Vincetoxicum.  The species name hirundinaria refers to the seed pods, supposed to look like the wings or tail of a swallow.

Geranium sanguineum

Wild strawberries grew here, and Geranium sanguineum.

Polygala species

This milkwort was stunning, but we have struggled to identify it.  It seems to be either P. vulgaris, or the similar P. comosa.  Looking at photos on the internet, I incline towards the latter, not for any good botanical reasons, but just for the feel of it.

Thesium alpinum

Next to the Polygala, we found this.  Nowhere near as spectacular, but a very curious thing which attracts the photographer.

Cerastium arvense

By now, the bank along the path was part rocky outcrop, filled in with sections of retaining wall.  Thyme grew on it – possibly Thymus serpyllum, but I incline towards T. alpestre, mainly because of the bare sections of red stem which I have seen on other pictures of the latter.  Chickweed also found a home among the rock crevices – from the leaves, I think probably Cerastium arvense.

Geranium rivulare

In the shade at the bottom of the bank, we found the white, purple-veined flowers of Geranium rivulare.

Dianthus carthusianorum

Also here, we found our first pinks – the strident magenta of Dianthus carthusianorum, and the beautiful pale pink flowers of Dianthus sylvestris.  The latter always seemed to have just one or two flowers open – I didn’t see a good plant of it the whole fortnight.  Maybe there would be more flowers later in the season.

Carduus defloratus

The long naked stems and waving purple heads of Carduus defloratus grew in patches of loose rock below the path.

Berberis vulgaris

Also among the rocks we saw barberry (Berberis vulgaris) in flower.

Acinos alpinus

On the bank on the other side of the path, the striking violet flowers of Acinos alpinus were making an appearance.

Sempervivum arachnoideum

Amongst the rocks of the bank, Sempervivum arachnoideum was thriving.

Echium vulgare

Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare) was growing on the grassy slope to our right, and along the top of the wall.

Saxifraga aspera

With the Echium, Euphorbia cyparissias was growing, and good clumps of a lovely mossy saxifrage – Saxifraga aspera.

Saxifraga paniculata

We turned up a steep rise to the right.  On our left was a large rocky outcrop, liberally decorated with Saxifraga paniculata.

Sorbus aucuparia

The rain was falling more heavily as we passed under a rowan tree, and topped the rise.  Nearly at Zmutt.  But the meadows here were foaming with flowers – yellow rattle, bladder campion and that white mountain clover, Trifolium montanum.

We came across more different species, fox-and-cubs (Hieracium aurantiacum), and Veronica fruticans.  We saw the latter growing in tight clumps on the volcanic ridge at Porta Vescovo in the Dolomites; here it had much less charm, and could be overlooked as just another meadow flower.

Phyteuma spicatum

Here we found another Phyteuma species.  This time, most of the speciments had creamy white flowers, and we could identify them confidently as Phyteuma spicatum.  The stem leaves and the bracts immediately below the flowerhead were lanceolate and stuck out at right angles to the stem.

There were occasional specimens with blue flowers, which had the same stem leaves.  The latter are a real puzzle; they didn’t quite resemble the plants we had earlier identified as P. betonicifolium.  The only species I can find which have leaves like this are P. spicatum and P. ovatum, which is much darker.  As a result, I am inclined to believe they were blue variants of Phyteuma spicatum, or a hybrid.

These meadows were a magnificent mass of flower, very like those we explored in the Dolomites.

Among the spectacle, I noted the flowers of Viola tricolor (probably subsp. subalpina), and a scabious which looked a little different, and was almost certainly Knautia purpurea.

Globularia bisnagarica

On the bank beside the path I found a tall Globularia, which I think must be Globularia bisnagarica.

Eventually, we reached the hamlet of Zmutt.  Time for a cup of coffee before retracing our steps.  Sadly, the little café had had a busy day, and had run out of cake and strudel.

After a short rest, we set off back down the path.

Aster alpinus

We investigated the start of the higher path along the valley, but it was less used, and looked like it would be harder walking for legs which were already feeling tired.  At the start of this other path, there was a rocky outcrop, featuring Aster alpinus and Sempervivum arachnoideum in flower.

Geranium sylvaticum

It was interesting to see Geranium sylvaticum growing here out in the open meadows.  Having noticed it, we saw it again further down the path in shade, in a more typical habitat.

Biscutella laevigata

On the way back down a path you approach areas from a different angle, and often notice different flowers.  I noticed and photographed Biscutella laevigata, and some curious shoots with yellow leaves, which we saw several times over the fortnight, but haven’t managed to identify.

Centaurea scabiosa (?)

Overlooking the stream there were big banks of a Centaurea, probably C. scabiosa.

On the other side of the path, the meadow grasses were catching the afternoon sun.

Libelloides coccajus

Among the grasses, we noticed this fascinating insect, which we have subsequently identified as an Owly Sulphur, a rare European invertebrate.  This is a diurnal predator of other flying insects.  Apparently, the larvae are fearsome ambush predators.

The typical sheep of the area are very stocky, broad-shouldered with black faces. These are a breed called Valais Blacknose and are very valuable, commanding high prices for pure bred stock.

This was another puzzle.  I wonder if it might be Lamium album, though Flora Helvetica doesn’t think that grows in the area.

Findelbach Falls

From the walk down the valley, we had clear views of the Findelbach Falls, crossed by a famous bridge holding the Gornergrat railway.

Eventually, we reached the bottom of the slope, and the meadows leading into the town.  There was a wooden carving of a hiker here, and marmots whistling, though we couldn’t see them.

Googlemaps says this walk is about 4km (2.5 miles) each way, with a 320m ascent.  Helen’s fitbit recorded 18,488 steps, 7.7 miles, up 40 flights, but that was her score for the whole day.  Still it looks like an over-estimate of the distance, but indicates in part that even on a well made track, we don’t always walk in a straight line when seeking flowers.

This walk, with its density and diversity of flowers, was the closest we got during our stay to the meadows of the Dolomites.  Looking back, and having researched the geology a bit more, I can’t help feeling that we may have been seeing the influence of limestone rocks in the cliffs above, and a more calcareous flora.