Image of Asperula purpurea (L.) Ehrend.

Description:

Slo.: krlatna perla, krlatna lakota - syn.: Galium purpureum L. - Habitat: an opening in mixed Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies wood; clear cut under (local) power lines, almost flat terrain; calcareous, skeletal, colluvial ground; full sun, warm and dry place; elevation 545 m (1.790 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region. - Substratum: soil. - Comment: Few plants known to me are more difficult to be photographed in the field as Asperula purpurea. It is small, very tender and its flowers have not much more than 1 mm in diameter. Its leaves can be less than 1 cm long and only a fraction of mm wide. Apparently, when it grows on sunny places it is specially small and tender. So, it shakes restlessly even if there is no observable wind. At the same time only macro photography can show its details. Since it is widely branched in all directions one would need considerable depth of field for sharp pictures. This is of cause nonexistent with macro work. Also focus stacking technique cannot be used, because the plant is in motion all the time. - This South European plant growing also on Balkan Peninsula, Carpathians and Apennines originally belonged to Galium genus, but was later repositioned to Asperula genus. All Asperula species growing in Slovenia are beautiful; however this beauty requires to be admired with a hand lens. Ref.: (1) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 2., Haupt (2004), p 348. (2) K. Lauber and G. Wagner, Flora Helvetica, 5. Auflage, Haupt (2012), p 762. (3) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora fr sterreich, Liechtenstein und Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 702. (4) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 521.