The genus ''Soldanella'', commonly known in English as snowbell, includes about 15 species of flowering plants native to European mountains, from the

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, the

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, the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, the

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and the

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. They grow in woods, damp pastures and rocky landscapes from 500-3,000 m above sea level, often in hollows which hold snow into late spring and early summer. The name ''Soldanella'' means "little coins" in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

.The botanical name ''Soldanella'' dates from the 16th century and comes from Italian ''soldo'' which was a type of coin (from medieval Latin ''soldanus'', a certain type of coin). ''Soldanella'' is a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of ''soldo''; it means little coins. Book: ''The Names of Plants'' by David Gledhill, year 2008, page 355.

Appearance

The plant typically has a basal rosette of simple, orbicular

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

1–5 cm wide, with the flower stalks arising from the centre of the rosette, each stalk bearing 1-6 white to violet

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s. The species are similar to each other and it is nearly impossible to identify images. Subtle differences are observable using a magnifying glass. The species can be lumped in groups of similar appearance. Large-sized plants 1. ''S. villosa'' occurring in Basque Lands at low elevations has large papery leaves and about 1 mm glandular hairs on petioles. Medium-sized plants 2. '' S. alpina'' including ''S. occidentalis'' and ''S. pyrolaefolia'' occurring in the Alps and Southern European mountains has sitting glands on petioles, scapes and pedicels. 3. ''S. carpatica'' occurring in the Western Carpathians in Slovakia and Poland has sitting glands on petioles but short glandular hairs on pedicels. 4. ''S. marmarossiensis'' including ''S. rugosa'' occurring in the North-Eastern Carpatians in

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and Romania has short glandular hairs on petioles and pedicels and narrowly crateriform corolla. 5. ''S. angusta'', ''S. calabrella'', ''S. chrysosticta'' including ''S. cyanaster'', ''S. hungarica'', ''S. major'', ''S. montana'', ''S. oreodoxa'', ''S. pindicola'' including ''S. dimoniei'' and ''S. macedonica'', ''S. pseudomontana'', ''S. rhodopaea'', ''S. tatricola'' all having broadly crateriform corolla mutually differ in the length and shape of cells forming short glandular hairs on petioles and pedicels. Small-sized plants 6. ''S. alpicola'' occurring in the Alps, ''S. pusilla'' occurring in the Southern Carpathians and ''S. pirinica'' occurring in Bulgaria are characterized by the top position of the bract and sitting glands. Often encountered hybrid ''S. alpina'' × ''S. alpicola'' has laterally positioned bract. 7. ''S. austriaca'' and ''S. minima'' occurring in the Alps and Apennines are characterized by short glandular hairs and laterally positioned bract.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q158203 Primulaceae Primulaceae genera Alpine flora