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12 May 2008

and now for something completely different

The hilly Wienerwald (Viennese forest) in the west of Vienna and stretching far beyond the city limits to the west and soutwest is very different in character from Lobau. I have found all the flowers below on or not far from this rocky outcrop at around 450-500 metres above sea level.

Huge areas of the Wienerwald, especially the ones in the rain shadow (eastern flanks of the hills) are rather dry and therefore preferred by pines.

Vinca minor (Lesser periwinkle - Kleines Immergrün): previously I have only known the greater variety (Vinca maior) which is popular in gardening, but here the wild, autochthonous smaller variety:

The following two species I have never seen before, nor have I found them in literature or on the www.

And this seems to be Helianthemum alpestre (Alpen-Sonnenröschen - rockroses or sunroses) even though these aren't supposed to grow below 1000 metres above sea level.