Terrain above the tree line is among the harshest on the planet, but as Scott explains there are some durable residents on the mountaintops.
Alpine flowers are durable and beautiful. (Courtesy Argenberg)
In early summer on New Hampshire’s highest peaks the alpine zone bursts into spectacular bloom. For a few short delicious weeks, the ground is literally covered with magenta, pink and white blossoms. The plants that exist above tree-line are arctic in origin, leftovers from the last ice age. As the glaciers receded, these cold-loving plants retreated to the last available suitable habitat, the mountaintops.
As delicate as they look, these lovely flowers survive the world’s harshest weather. They have a number of clever adaptations that allow them to thrive where other plants fear to tread.
First, most alpine plants are perennials. Mountain summers are too short for plants to start from seed, flower and set seed in one season. So perennials store their energy over the winters and grow slowly during the brief summers. It can take over ten years for a plant to reach flowering size.
Another strategy is to be an evergreen. Keeping leaves year-round saves energy and allows plants to begin photosynthesizing and growing as soon as the snow melts. Above tree-line, plants stay very small, often growing no more than a few inches tall. Some hug the ground like moss. Laying low keeps them out of the worst of the cold drying winds.
And just like hikers, some plants wear fleece jackets—their leaves are covered with fuzzy hairs. This fur coat protects them from harsh ultraviolet light, and keeps them warm.
Alpine plants use lots of strategies to survive, but for me that only makes their beautiful flowers all the more miraculous.
