Beyond the alpine garden – The Dovrefjell flora

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Beyond the alpine garden
The garden does not contain all the species that grow in the Dovrefjell mountains. It just offers a foretaste of what is awaiting he or she who sets off to explore, either westwards through the more impoverished parts of the national park, along the Pilgrims' Trail, or on Knutshø, the most renowned mountain for plants in southern Norway. But please remember, the plants in the Kongsvoll Protected Landscape Area and the Dovrefjell National Park are protected by law. It is not permitted to disturb them unnecessarily, fell hollow trees, or break off dead branches.

The Dovrefjell flora
The rich flora of the Dovrefjell mountains was discovered by the botanist, G.C. Oeder, who travelled in Norway in 1755-60 to gather information for a monograph, Flora Danica, which also took in Norway. However, it was not until a visit in 1836 by the Christiania (Oslo) professor, M.N. Blytt, that Knutshø achieved fame as a mountain with an unusually rich array of plants. Subsequently, Norwegian and foreign botanists, students and amateur flower lovers have flocked to Dovrefjell. Periodically, intense collecting of plants took place, not least in the Kongsvoll-Knutshø area. It became such a threat that in 1911 this became the first area in Norway to be protected on botanical grounds.

Several of the plants for which the Kongsvoll-Knutshø area became famous have since been found further west on the mountains lining the Sunndal valley, northwards to Trollheimen, northeastwards to Oppdal and Tynset and eastwards to the Folldal valley.

The flora and vegetation of the east side of the Drivdalen valley contrast greatly with the west side, which is dominated by acidic rocks, types with little calcium. The rich alpine flora is associated with the area underlain by Caledonian carbonate-bearing rocks, including greenstones, phyllites etc. A rich flora is also found beyond Knutshø, for instance on the mountains east of Drivdalen (Oppdal), on Råtåsjøhøi, Høggia, Pigghetta-Storø (Folldal), along the valley between Dombås and Hjerkinn and in Grimsdalen (Dovre), as well as in the Grøvu district (Sunndal). Most of the alpine plants known in southern Norway, including many uncommon species, grow in the Dovrefjell district. Some have only been found in one or a few localities, or occur in a limited area, whereas others are quite common.

This concentration of species in the Dovrefjell area led to the theory being put forward that the plants had survived the Ice Ages in refuges, on nunataks that protruded above the ice. Even though critical voices were raised, this "overwintering theory" was good botanical doctrine until the end of the 1980's. Nowadays, the opinion is that the distribution of the alpine plants can be explained by a combination of survival in ice-free areas, several waves of immigration after the last Ice Age, and evolution over the past 10,000 years or so.