Alps Flora

Flora
Main article: Flora of the Alps

Stemless gentian (Gentiana acaulis)
Thirteen thousand species of plants have been identified in the Alpine regions.[4] Alpine plants are grouped by habitat and soil type which can be

limestone or non-calcareous. The habitats range from meadows, bogs, woodland (deciduous and coniferous) areas to soil-less scree and moraines, and rock faces and ridges.[9] A natural vegetation limit with altitude is given by the presence of the chief deciduo

us trees—oak, beech, ash and sycamore maple. These do not reach exactly to the same elevation, nor are they often found growing together; but their upper limit corresponds accurately enough to the change from a temperate to a colder climate that is further proved

by a change in the presence of wild herbaceous vegetation.[70] This limit usually lies about 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above the sea on the north side o

f the Alps, but on the southern slopes it often rises to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), sometimes even to 1,700 m (5,600 ft).[71]