Moss campion

Tags: Flowers Description: Moss campion grows in dense cushions of small, stiff leaves packed tightly together. During flowering, the cushion can be covered with small pink flowers. But flowering often starts on the south side of the cushion and finishes on the north side. We say that moss campion is compass-flowering. The dense cushion catches and holds moisture and warmth, and shelters against the wind. Inside such a cushion the temperature and humidity can be the same as in a tropical rainforest, even though it is only 5–10 degrees and the surrounding air is dry. The cushion has a taproot in the middle that fills with nutrients in the autumn. Moss campion can live to be 100 years old and can go dormant for several years in a row if conditions are not good enough for growth. Use: This root has been eaten as a supplement to the diet in years of famine. Habitat type: Mountains, Svalbard Edible: No Written by: Lærke Stewart

Moss campion. Photo: Lærke Søndergaard Stewart