Jokkmokk and the Mountain Botanical Garden
Visited June 23rd & 24th
The capital of Sami culture and one of Sweden's Lapland oldest settlements named Jokkmokk, is six miles (10km) north of the Arctic Circle. Heading northeast after leaving Hemavan early Thursday morning it was our next destination. After approximately five hours in road miles, we crossed the latitudinal line of the Arctic Circle in the early afternoon. We were entering an area collectively known as Lapland which covers the northern most parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia.
Our afternoon was spent with an introduction to the Lapland culture, life and ecology at the Ájtte Museum in Jokkmokk where Sami artifacts were displayed. Friday morning we would visit the Alpine Mountain Garden located on the eastern end of Lake Talvastisjön.
The inspiration for the creation of the Jokkmokk Mountain Garden was the Alpine Botanical Garden at Hemavan that we had visited the day before. In 1993 Bengt Rosén, head of the Ájtte Museum took the entire staff of the museum to Hemavan. Due to his previous involvement in botanical gardens, he was aware of how important the garden could be for the organization and its use for education. A mountain garden would provide visitors the opportunity to not only learn botanical knowledge of alpine and mountain plants but to be informed as to how human cultures, primarily the Sami natives, interacted with and used the native plants.
The aim was to include educational information in the mountain garden tour. Signage in the plant zones provided information as how those plants displayed were significant “to man in the context of food or animal fodder, forestry and timber, medicine, textile fibers, etc. and their role in folklore…”
Thomas Öberg, who at that time was head of the exhibitions at the Ájtte Museum, created the original plan for displaying the different plant life and habitats of the region plus the educational texts for these zones. Pathways in the mountain garden were laid out to lead you to various mountain “plant zones”. These plant zones are habitats that have been recreated to represent their natural environment.
(Photo by Jan Gustavson – Courtesy of Ájtte museum)
Over a two year time span a mountain top was built in a forest to recreate the different environment and landscapes of local mountain flora; a living museum display of the mountain ranges of Northern Scandinavia focusing on two areas. Padjelanta (“the higher land,”) which borders Norway on the west, and Sarek, adjacent to Padjelanta.
(Photo by Göran Sjöberg – Courtesy of Ájtte museum)
Sarek landscape consists of high mountain peaks, large valleys, and high plateaus. Reindeer are found in the old growth birch forests of the sub-alpine zone in the spring time where the alpine-blue-sow-thistle and garden angelica are abundant. The Sami people move their reindeer herds up to the alpine zones in the summer where the heathland is carpeted with mountain avens and purple saxifrage that thrive in the chalky soil.
Padjelanta is a flatter landscape with rolling hills, chalk rich bedrock and a record number of species for a Swedish highlands. Above the tree line of Padjelanta, the mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) is the only tree that can grow a forest. Reindeer husbandry and fishing on the large lakes of Padjelanta are central to the livelihood of the Sami communities.
From the summit of Jokkmokk's man made miniature mountain you can observe the rushing mountain stream Kvarnbäcken. The stream divides willow marsh thickets from the mountain birch and coniferous forests.
When Carl Linnaeus passed through Jokkmokk and into the heart of the mountain area of Kvikkjokk, 75 miles (120km) northwest, he wrote in his journal of his impression of his first visit to the northern mountains and its natural landscape,” When I went on to the mountain side I felt I was being transported into a new world and when I reached the top I did not know if I was out in Asia or Africa, as both the nature of the earth and all the plants were unfamiliar to me. I had now arrived in the mountains. All around me was snow covered rock, I walked on the snow like in the severest winter. All the rare plants I saw and collected appeared as in miniature. Furthermore, I took so many that it seemed I could not cope.” (July 6th,1732)
Attention is given at the garden of the plant life that Carl Linnaeus encountered on his Lapland journey covering 1,200 miles (over 2,000 kilometers) from May to October of 1732. He traveled through Jokkmokk on June 29th & 30th.. Linnaeus wrote and sketched not only the flora and fauna he studied but penned his thoughts on the Sami natives and their culture. When he proposed to Sara Elisabeth Moraea he wore his Lapland peasant garb.
Being a physician it is not surprising that Carl Linnaeus often wrote in his travel journal how the Sami people used plants medicinally for healing various complaints of discomfort and illnesses. He also observed and recorded how plants were picked and prepared for human consumption often adding his culinary verdict of the edible feast that was presented to him.
Our guide Alisa Brandt, told us that,” good knowledge of many plants and their purpose for medicinal healing is about to be lost.” In the Jokkmokk Mountain Garden an area is set aside labeled as “Wild utility plants.” Alisa pointed out that the plants grown in this area were beneficial to the Sami who harvested them for food and medicine. These plants they showcased with a brief history written on the signage and the guided tours of the garden, are a way to retain the knowledge that the Sami had been passing down many, many generations before Linnaeus's visit.
Wild celery is an apt description for the Angelica archangelica, a plant that did not require cultivation but was harvested for food and medicine by the Sami people. This plant provided vitamin C and used as a treatment for a number of illnesses. Linnaeus noted its use as an edible delicacy. He wrote that in July, “ when the boys and girls are wondering around on the mountain pastures with their reindeer before driving them home for milking in the evening they will take armfuls of gathered stalks to share with their families and it is very much enjoyed.” The Lapps would pick and peel the stalk before it came into flower and become tough like bamboo. Linnaeus observed that it was eaten like a turnip. The flower stalk could also be grilled or boiled with meat. The flower bud was boiled with Mountain Sorrel or taken diluted in milk. In Norway the angelica has been grown by the settled Sami as a vegetable and seasoning herb. Moose and reindeer graze on the plant and bears eat the roots. The plant was mentioned back in the Icelandic sages so it could be the oldest Nordic vegetable.
Alisa told us that the Sami would dry the roots and chew on them to keep away bad bacteria and prevent colds. Also as a cold preventative, it was possible to smoke angelica leaf mixed with a leaf tobacco. It has antibacterial and immune-enhancing properties. Steeped in water, it was used to dress slow healing wounds. The leaves were used to dress burns and blisters to prevent infection and for reducing pain. It was also good for numerous stomach problems. From Linnaeus's writings of the garden angelica he found it agreeable to his digestive system.
“The Sami regard this snack as a delicacy and I too found it not unacceptable, being mildly bitter, aromatic too and gentle on the palate and stomach, naturally when one has had to consume a bland laxative diet for so long. It tasted exceptionally good but I do not know if it is more bitter and strong in our gardens or whether my sense of taste had been modified in Lapland. Apart from that, it has in fact never occurred to me; perhaps each country's foodstuff also meets the country's taste.”
The Lapland Mountain Sorrel (Rumex acetosa ssp lapponicus) called juobmo in Sami, grows in the meadows on the mountains from the pine forest as high as the tree line. The Lapland sorrel was harvested for eating in large quantities since it was a larger plant. To children it was like candy with a sharp taste when eaten raw.
(Photo by Edvin Nilsson – Courtesy of Ájtte museum)
The mountain sorrel (Oxyria digyna, which grows higher up on the mountains where the snow still lingers after the winter, was called abrro by the Sami. The leaves are acid tasting. The Sami found both juobmo and abrro good to eat. Linnaeus provided the recipe for “Juno”-milk. A pint of sorrel would be boiled in a little water and stirred until it was boiled to pieces. It was then mixed in reindeer milk. Linnaeus gave a thumbs down to the taste of common sorrel mixed with milk. The Sami considered the sorrel at a healthy food though, giving strength and appetite when needed. By storing it in kegs in cold springs or in underground ice houses, it provided food rich in vitamins (especially C vitamin) in the winter time. On the coast of Norway, the pollen of the mountain sorrel has been found in soil layers up to 12,600 years old.
(Photo by Edvin Nilsson – Courtesy of Ájtte museum)
When the Arctic Alpine Blue Sow-Thistle (Cicerbita alpina), Lapland Mountain Sorrel and Angelica were boiled together and added to sour milk, it created a dish called gompa which was very well known to the Lapps and a culinary delight in the southern Sami regions. With heads of large blue dandelion like flowers the sow-thistle plant can reach heights of 59” (150 cm). Linnaeus described this impressive plant as “the most majestic given its straight and stiff stem which is as tall as a person or more with its lively shining leaves and its upright, long, blue blossomed spire.” Linnaeus compared the preparation of the plant for food similar to that of the Angelica with the stalk being eaten raw before the flowers have blossomed. The leaves would be cut off and the tough, fibrous bark at the bottom would be peeled off with a knife, fingernails or teeth. “The meaty part which is considered especially tasty is eaten.” His culinary review of the meal; “For myself, I did not find any delight in this delicacy, which without salt or oil seemed too bitter.“A relic of the last ice age which is found growing on moist mountain ledges, Alpine blue-sow-thistle is grazed by moose, reindeer, bears and cows. Linnaeus reported in Flora Svecia that he had heard the milk is bitter and unpleasant when cows have eaten it.
Information on the sign with Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) gave a brief history of the longevity and usefulness of this plant stating that it had been used in folk medicine as early as the “Egyptian period of greatness”. It was one of the herbs used in embalming. Bouquets of the common tansy were used as an air freshener and insect repellant. In houses the bouquets were used improve the smells plus repel moths and flies. The flower was used to flavor beer and drink called aquavit; a clear liquor flavored with caraway seeds. Drinking common tansy tea would eliminate intestinal worms.
Linnaeus reported that in Klarälvsdalen dead bodies were rubbed with common tansy to prevent worms from eating the corpse. He also wrote,” I saw settler's wives in Lapland and farmer's wives in Västerbotten dilligently gather and dry this plant, but to find out what it was used for was not easy. I finally was told that women in these regions prepare a steam bath to soften body parts and ease the approaching childbirth.”
The Mountain Aven Heath Garden represents the heathland where it is very windy. The majority of the plants grow low to the ground for warmth from freezing Arctic temperatures and protection from the wind. Growing seasons are short. With springs warmth, the plants in depressions with a snow cover will grow and flower quickly.
(Photo courtesy of Ájtte website)
The mountain aven (Dryas octopetala) grows on dry-lime rich soil on high mountain sides above the Arctic Circle in depressions where the snow lies thin in the winter. Linnaeus gave the plant the name Dryas, after the Dryads, the deities that lived in the oak trees. He observed that the leaf of the plant looks like a miniature oak leaf but is leather like in texture and wintergreen. In order to limit evaporation the leaf is hairy on the underside.
(Photo courtesy from Ájtte website)
June and July are the months to find this low growing bush carpeted in beautiful white blooms. The mountain aven was one of the first plants to immigrate to Sweden after the ice age. On the Russian Kola Peninsula they have found plants 108 years old. The moss campion (Silene acaulis) that we observed at Hemavan is a companion plant also found on the heathland in the snow depressions. It is noted for its longevity also.
(Photo by Lennart Jönsson — courtesy of Ájtte museum)
Another miniature beauty that also prefers the rich lime soil of the dry upland meadows is the Alpine gentian (Gentiana nivalis), which blooms in July to August. It has true blue star shaped blooms that burst out in sunny weather. It is so tiny though that when the flowers are closed, it can easily be missed. The color blue is considered a strong attraction for a visit from the bees for pollination. The Alpine gentian can also be found growing in grass field, rock ledges and in woodlands below the mountains. The name gentian comes from Gentius, an ancient king of Illyria who discovered the medicinal value of these plants.
The clustered lady's mantle (Alchemilla glomerulans) is found in the middle arctic tundra zones in snow-bed depressions with a meadow character. Our guide Alisa informed us that the lady's mantle was used as a pain killer, especially by women during their menstruation. From the leaves tea would be made.
In the willow marsh was found another plant, the Tea leaf willow (Salix phylicfolia) whose smooth green hairless, young leaves are harvested and dried to make tea. Parts of the plant were chewed to treat aliments such as mouth sores and pain. It was a good source of vitamin C. Also in the willow marsh at Jokkmokk was the Downy willow (Salix lapponum) with silvery hairs covering the plant. By late June its silky catkins had browned.
The willow marshes are found in both forests and on the high bare mountains. The depth of the snow can be determined by the height of the willow shrubs as they are often covered completely by the snow. When the sprouts reach up through the snow cover they are killed by the harsh winds and drought. It can be midsummer before the willow thickets on the mountains will thaw but it can be one of the first plants to flower. In the summer time herbs and mosses will grow in abundance in the damp ground near the willows. Moose feed on the willow in summer and winter and insect loving birds are found in the willow thickets. The species is dioecious (male and female reproductive parts on separate plants) and pollinated by bees and other insects.
According to the Jokkmokk pamphlet, reindeer herders and mountain dwellers have dug out willow from the snow for firewood to use for cooking and heating in life saving situations. Stems and twigs from willow are used for kindling and wood for smoking meat in the kåta. To this day, the Sami prepare reindeer skins by boiling willow bark to produce a lye to use in tanning hides.
On the Southern slope of the mountain was a group of small semi-woody evergreen plant with nodding bell shaped light pink flowers born in pairs. Linnaeus had seen it in the Lapland forest and took a liking to the plant calling it “my herb.” His friend, the Dutch botanist J.F. Gronovius, named the plant in honor of Linnaeus with a nod to the Greek god Boreas of the north winds. The twinflower ( Linnaea borealis ) became Linnaeus's good luck charm. He wrote that "It is a plant that is native to the Nordic wilderness areas, it does not grow tall, is pressed down to the ground, has little value, is unnoticed and blossoms only briefly, it is thus similar to Linnaeus." He found that from a distance the flower could be smelled, especially at night. Of the plants medicinal use he wrote that the “country people from Ångermanland usually boil this plant and use it for sponging and compresses because it is a rapidly effecting remedy for rheumatic pains.”
Meadow Birch Forests can be found on the southern slope of the mountain where there is running water. If the soil is rich in lime meadow birch forests will grow profusely. The alpine plants found here are wolfsbane, alpine butter wort, angelica, mountain sorrel, butter cups, cransbill, meadow sweet, thistle and valerian. The alpine violets, chickweeds, may lily and lily of the valley bloom in the early summer. The willow species when thick in gullies and hollows makes travel difficult.
Under the heading of Lapp Medicines, Linnaeus wrote that the Sami's “moxa” was a fine crumbling wood-powder taken from the south side of a birch tree. The druggist mix was to take the powder the size of a pea and place it on the sore place where the pain was the worst, ignite it with a birch twig and allow it to gradually burn away. The resulting open sores, (sometimes open for six months) were left to heal on their own. Linnaeus called this treatment the universal remedy among the Lapps. The Lapps called it “the little doctor.” The Lappish “moxa” was used for tooth, head and stomach aches, stings, gout and rheumatic pains.
A poultice or drawing plaster called “Kattie”, was made from good, soft birch that was burned, immediately placed in water and then chewed. Then it was mixed with fresh spruce resin and worked with the hands to make a black plaster to put on hard boils to open them making them soft and painless.
Other companions in the meadow birch forest are the globe flower or as called in Lapland, Butter Ball-Boallooajvve (Trollius europaeus L) and the perennial herb, Silene dioica or red campion.
This time we found a globe flower in bloom with the elusive pollinator fly Chiastochaeta trollii, that we could not find at Hemavan. This tiny fly lays eggs in the flower pistils. When flying from flower to flower the fly helps with pollination. In return, the developing fly larva uses some of the flowers ripening follicles' seed for nutrition. In the tundra the globe flower can bloom as late as August. In the past (but not recommended currently), the plant was used as a purgative since slightly poisonous.
The cransbill geranium (Geranium sylvaticum L) was in bloom in our late June visit. Higher in the mountains it flowers in September on the mountain meadows. Linnaeus described his encounter with the plant in Flora Lapponica (1737), No plant there, which is neither more plentiful in the densest woods or grander in the mountains.”
Cats foot (Antennaria alpine) is found frequently in the Lapland Mountains blooming June through August. To ensure its survival the plant is able to produce fruit without being fertilized. The cats foot can survive cold winters with temperatures as low as -30 degrees F (-34 C). This plant has been used for fragrances and dyes.
When our guide Alisa Brandt first introduced us to the mountain garden she mentioned that nature's beneficial plants included edible berries. The blueberries, lingonberries and raspberries were picked in the mountains and forests and eaten in large quantities. Other berries she mentioned were red currants, crowberries, wild strawberries, bilberries and cloudberries. These berries were not only useful food for the indigenous people of the Arctic regions, but are beneficial foods for our health in the 21st century as these fruits have been found to demonstrate anti-cancer activities. Wild strawberries (the cultivated less so), raspberries, crowberries and cloudberries are in the list of 10 best foods that contain significant amounts of ellagic acid, a powerful phenolic compound that has been shown in studies to ”exert strong anti-cancer and antioxidant activities.”
(Photo by Jan Gustavsson – courtesy of Ájtte museum)
The Cloudberry Rubus chamaemorus L. is found growing wild in the arctic tundra, boreal forests, bogs, marshes and wet meadows. Carl Linnaeus wrote that they occurred “in staggering quantities in the forest areas of Lapland, and somewhat in the mountain valleys. Boys and even others are very fond of the berry.” Rich in vitamin C it was important to the diet of the Northern natives and seafarers of that time. The plant can withstand the cold arctic temperatures but requires a sunny exposure and acidic ground. The cloudberry is dioecious and fruit production by a female plant requires pollination from a male plant. With a mixture of male and female plants in its natural habitat fertilization is possible with plenty of insects such as hoverflies and bumblebees. In the mountains the cloudberries white blooms cover the marshes at the end of May. At that time of the month there is still frost possibilities which can be a detriment for a successful crop.
Cloudberries were popular in the 1700's and Linnaeus noted that an” immense amount of preserved cloudberries” were sent from Västerbotten to Stockholm every year. Before refrigeration the berries would be saved in their own juice in kegs in cold water. The fruits benzoic acid would also contribute to preservation of the berry. While in Jokkmokk Linnaeus was served the Lappish dish of cloudberries mashed up and mixed with reindeer milk, which he indicated agreed with his palate. He found that “delicacy less harmful than chocolates and other sweets. The berries are buried in the snow and kept that way during the entire winter. Removed in the spring, they are as tasty as when they were first stored there.”
Currently in Lapland the harvesting and selling of cloudberries is a major industry. Cloudberry fruit is used in yogurt, jams, tarts, juices and liqueurs. Research has been done to cultivate the cloudberry in Arctic areas where other crops are not possible.
Wild Strawberries have been found to be one of the best natural sources of ellagic acid. Carl Linnaeus relied on the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) in his later years when in poor health with aches and pains and as he described it, in “death's jaws” with gout. He wrote to a friend that he was cured and freed from gout by eating as many of the strawberries his stomach would allow; four times a day, one half quart at a time, every summer for as long as they lasted.
Carl Linnaeus described the Arctic Rasberry (Rubus arcticus), which is hardy in frost and cold weather, as“the most delicious and exotic delicacy… these berries are the foremost of all the plants that grow wild in Sweden.” He described the juice of the berries to the taste of wine. He wrote that the dark red to purple berry”so many times revived me when I was almost dying of hunger and hardship.” The berry was made into jams and jellies that were sent from Norrland to Stockholm.
The cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) that grows wild in the Scandinavia forest producing bright red tart berries, may be easier for us to recognize in a jar on the grocery shelves with the jams or as a side dish at a Swedish eatery under the name of Lingonberry. In the annals of folk medicine it had been used as a natural remedy for the pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, fever,water retention and gastrointestinal disorders. Scientific studies have not been done for the benefits that lingonberry may or may not provide for those ailments. Scientific studies have shown though that lingonberries contain quercetin, a flavonoid with strong anti-inflammatory properties. For dental health, a study found that a tannin extracted from lingonberries had strong antimicrobial activity against two bacteria that have been implicated in periodontal diseases.
From Carl Linnaeus's writings, it appears that he relied on many of these wild berries for subsistence and healing not only on his Lapland trip but later in life when his health was deteriorating.
The taiga is the world's largest land habitat; a northern zone of coniferous forest that stretch around the earth from Alaska to Eastern Siberia. It is subject to 8 months of intense winter cold as low as -76 degrees F (or -60 degrees C average), deep snow depth and days of almost complete darkness. In Scandinavia the coniferous trees are spruce, pine, the larch from Siberia and the lodgepole (Contorta pine) from Canada which is used by the foresting industry for timber. The forests are grazing area in the winter for the mountain and forest reindeer. In the summer the days are 24 hours of light, warmer climate (70 degrees F or 21 degrees C average) with many birds migrating to the taiga regions to feast on an abundance of insects. Near the mountains and the forest reserves where the forests are not harvested, the World Heritage has reported that these pristine areas have numerous trees older than 700 years.
The pine trees are cone shaped with green waxy needles so the snow does not weigh them down. The shape of the green needles allow minimum water evaporation. With the cooler temperature decomposition of vegetative matter on the forest floor is slow which results in thin and nutrient poor soil.
As Carl Linnaeus crossed into Lapland he noticed that the pines were less twiggy on their northern sides which helped people tell where the north laid. While in Jokkmokk he observed that when people “have a headache from a drink or any other cause, hold their heads in front of a fire until they really hurt, and this helps. Other people put pulverised spruce needles on their heads.”
(Photo by Thomas Öberg – courtesy of Ájtte Museum)
Mountain Birch (Betula pubescens ssp. Czerpanovii) is the dominant tree that grows in the high altitudes of the Scandinavian mountains. It is the last forest before the tundra, forming a tree line above the coniferous forest. If the soil in the mountain is dry and without nutrients, the birch forest will be sparse with few species of plants but rich in lichens for the reindeer. In the colder northern forests the tree line occurs at 1640 feet (500 meters) above sea level. As Carl Linnaeus traveled north and the altitude increased, he noted in his journal that the size of the birch trees diminished. Linnaeus also noted that on the high hill of Kiurivari the birch trees at the top of the hill were very small, lacked height, had very thick trunks and were very old. He was told that the trees produce very little sap each year so their wood is harder than usual. He wrote that the top most branches had been frozen off with leaves that looked like they had been burnt in a forest fire.
In the southern mountain regions the birch forests grow as high as 3280 feet (1000 meters) above sea level. Where there is running water in the southern regions and the soil is rich in lime, the meadow birch forests will be abundant in vegetation. Also in the mountain birch forest are aspen, mountain ash, bird cherry, and alder trees.
(Photo by Edwin Nilsson – courtesy of Ájtte Museum)
The mountain top appears bare and inhospitable. There are patches though of “super-plants” that survive the cold temperatures, fierce winds, droughts and the short growth period of 5 weeks. The glacier crowfoot (Ranunculus glacialis) (covered in detail under Hemavan) is one of these tough mountain plants that can survive for 2 years buried under snow.
(Photo courtesy of Ájtte Museum)
The dwarf shrub pincushion plant (Diapensia lapponica) grows on rocky ridges that are kept free from the snow by high winds. It is an unusual plant being able to survive the harsh Lapland winter without snow cover. It has adapted with its roots that grow deep into the ground anchoring it. The leaves are hard, waxed covered and tightly packed against one another protecting the short and branching stem. It has survived frost, drought and exposure to -62 degrees F (-58 degrees C). For a plant that is 0.8-2.4 inches high (2-6 cm) the flowers are large and showy to attract pollinators that fly close to the ground to take protection from the constant blowing wind.
(Photo by Edwin Nilsson – courtesy of Ájtte Museum)
Found by Linnaeus in his 1732 journey, the creeping heather azalea (Loiseieuria procumbens L.) forms a flat dense mat; a woody shrub 0.2-.4 inches (5-10cm) above the ground. Underground it has a strong, deep taproot system. The flower buds develop in the autumn before the snow falls so the plant blooms immediately after the snow melt in June and July. The creeping azalea can live 50 to 60 years by protecting itself from freezing or drying out with its low growing, tufted form with small leaves.
The creeping azalea is found in the higher mountains above the tree lines in very specific sites in the Eastern United States in Maine, New Hampshire and New York. It is considered a threatened species in the States as it occurs in a widely separated geographic area from its principle range on the Lapland fells.
(Photo by Edwin Nilsson – courtesy of Ájtte Museum)
With strong taproots the purple mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia), is slightly shorter than the pincushion plant. It shows off its purple-reddish violet blooms on the south facing ridges in June. On the north facing slopes it is later that the plants emerge from under the snow for July blooms. It is a fussy plant since it will only grow in calciferous soil in the highest parts of the fell zone. This results in an unusual way of protecting itself. According the Nature Gate, the plant has a group of cells at the tip of the leaves that secrete calciferous water which drips onto the mounds on the ground. Eventually the plant is covered with white lime deposits. The coating decreases evaporation, protects against excessive radiation and protects the leaves from the winds. It is a plant that has been chosen for international monitoring to help study the climate and it's relation to flowering time since rapid warming of climate can be destructive to the fell plants.
There are many more of the Arctic plants that Carl Linnaeus collected as ” miniatures” that can be viewed at Sweden's northern alpine botanical gardens of Hemavan and Jokkmokk. In their natural habitats the tenacious alpines are found in the cold high mountains throughout Eurasia. In the Western Hemisphere, the Rocky Mountains in the western United States are a habitat for numerous alpines. In the east high mountain landscape of New England and the Appalachian mountains to Northern Canada and Alaska the “miniatures” can also be found. These tiny beauties that Carl Linnaeus found and collected on snow covered rocks with colorful fleeting blooms are now sought out to photograph and study in nature by alpine enthusiast world wide.
Credits
Photos by Deborah E. McMillin except where noted.
Photos from the archives of the Ájtte Museum contributed by Göran Sjöberg, Director of Jokkmokk Mountain Botanical Garden and Sami Museum.
http://www.swedishlapland.com/stories/the-mountain-botanical-garden-in-jokkmokk/
NatureGate
Jokkmokk Mountain Garden – Pamphlet by Friends of Ájtte Museum 2016 by Göran Sjöberg – Translated to English by George Feather
Linneaus, Carl, “The Lapland Journey,” “Iter Lapponicum 1732” Edited and Translated by Peter Graves, Lockharton Press, Edinburgh 1995.