Short pine trees

Above the forestry, there is often a band of short pine trees (Pinus mugo), which is in turn superseded by Alpenrosen, dwarf shrubs, typically Rhododendron ferrugineum (on acid soils) or Rhododendron hirsutum (on alkaline soils).[72] Although the

Alpenrose prefers acidic soil, the plants are found throughout the region.[9] Above the tree line is the area defined as “alpine” where in the alpine meadow plants are found that have adapted well to harsh conditions of cold temperatures, aridity, and high altitudes. The alpine area fluctuates greatly because of regional fluctuations in tree lines.[73]

Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)
Alpine plants such as the Alpine gentian grow in abundance in areas such as the meadows above the Lauterbrunnental. Gentians are named after the Illyrian king Gentius, and 40 species of the early-spring blooming flower grow in the Alps, in a range o

f 1,500 to 2,400 m (4,900 to 7,900 ft).[74] Writing about the gentians in Switzerland D. H. Lawrence described them as “darkening the day-time, torch-like with the smoking blueness of Pluto’s gloom.”[75] Gentians tend to “appear” repeatedly as the spring

blooming takes place at progressively later dates, moving from the lower altitude to the higher altitude meadows where the snow melts much later than in the valleys. On the highest rocky ledges the spring flowers bloom in the summer.[9]