... for kicking off this discussion, anyway. Due to its circumpolar distribution, Silene acaulis is one that I'm sure will be familar to forumists worldwide. It seems to me to be omnipresent in the alpine zone in this area, challenged in abundance perhaps only by Dryas octopetala... ? (NB. These are only my biased observations from limited exposure to the area. Please feel free to question, challenge, or vehemently deny! :))
It occurs in a variety of settings, seemingly tolerant of the range of moisture conditions, from high snowfall areas to dry, windy ridges (#1-4).
Such a common plant and yet so beautiful... could one wish for greater flower density? (#5-7)
The flexibility of S. acaulis in seeming to bend over and down and around the angular edges of rocks, makes it sort of the Gumby of local flora. (Ouch, I think I tore something in that painful stretch for a metaphor! ;D) (#8, 9)
And, if it was possible to have a favourite from the thousands of individuals, this would be it (#10). This mat of S. acaulis has had an interesting history in its elegantly-barren, high alpine location... "an island in a sea of scree". (Thanks, Maggi - that expresses it wonderfully!) I'm tempted to try to find it again next summer, just to see how it's doing.
