Campanula uniflora, July 11, 2021
Common & scientific name
Arctic bellflower, Campanula uniflora
Family
Harebell, Campanulaceae
Location
No Name ridge, 12,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
The following comes from a website called The Flora of Svalbard. Svalbard (in case you didn’t know, like I didn’t) is a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. One of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas, it's known for its rugged, remote terrain of glaciers and frozen tundra sheltering polar bears, Svalbard reindeer and Arctic foxes. The Northern Lights are visible during winter, and summer brings the “midnight sun”—sunlight 24 hours a day.
What I found fascinating is how this other-worldly place’s treatment of this plant we enjoy in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado applies here equally:
“The plant flowers from mid July to mid August. Flowers potentially pollinated by insects but self pollination is probably common. We have no information on germination rate of seeds of the Svalbard populations; however, the plant must recruit regularly as populations of this relatively short-lived plant sustain in the same locations for a long time. . . . Local seed dispersal is facilitated by the stiff stems and the capsules with apical pores, resulting in ballistic dispersal during strong winds or when touched by animals (reindeer).”
Presumably elk, mountain goats, marmots & pika would perform the same role here!