Mountain avens

Tags: Flowers Description: Mountain avens is, as the name suggests, related to the rose bushes we have in the garden, even though it does not look quite the same. Unlike the roses in our gardens, mountain avens grows right against the ground, has tiny leaves that are slightly curled at the edges, and is covered in hairs on the underside. Although the plant is tiny, it can grow to be over 100 years old and is quite hardy. It can grow up on the ridges (rabber) in the mountains, where it is exposed to hard frost, wind and flying ice crystals. The large white-to-pale-yellow flower resembles a parabolic dish and can turn to follow the light so it gathers as much warmth as possible. It is visited a great deal by insects in summer, which benefit from the warmth that the parabolic flower has drawn in, and which at the same time pollinate the plant. Mountain avens requires lime in the soil, so if you find it, you know you are walking somewhere with lime in the ground. Habitat type: Mountains, Svalbard Edible: No Written by: Lærke Stewart

, via Wikimedia Commons](Reinrose/Reinrose.jpeg)

Mountain avens. Photo: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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