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Anyone who has a passion for botany and loves the mountains will find joy in alpine plants. But if, like the author of these lines, you are afraid of heights and feel more comfortable in the lowlands, you will have to make do with alpine gardens. Worth seeing - I can confirm this - is the Alpine Garden at Belvedere Palace in Vienna Landstrasse, whose beginnings go back to Archduke Johann. More than 4,000 plant species from mountain regions around the world have been collected here. If you prefer local species but are afraid of strenuous mountain tours, we recommend - to give a concrete example - the path from the Schönbergalm Nature Park to the Dachstein Giant Ice Cave on Krippenstein (Unesco World Heritage region) in Upper Austria, which is well-stocked with plant information. Thanks to the cable car, this is an easy summit victory. To all those who love books, I would like to introduce three works that see themselves as guidebooks.
At more than three kilos, the beautifully designed book by Oliver Tackenberg from Salzburg's Anton Puste Verlag is a powerful argument for devoting yourself to Alpine flora at home. In a comprehensive approach, “vascular plants found in the Alps, i.e. club moss, ferns and seed plants are presented” (page 7). These are by no means few. "In total, more than 1,600 taxa are taken into account in this book." The author, Oliver Tackenberg, a freelance biologist, has written several major plant monographs, including "The Flora of Germany."
In this identification book, all the necessary basics are provided in advance, before the species descriptions follow from page 112. First of all, it's about basic things such as the structure of the plant kingdom and the morphology of plants, where structural plans, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are described. Pages 56 to 78 are dedicated to the Alps as a habitat. Here, the two major units, the Western and Eastern Alps, are outlined in 36 geographical units and described in terms of natural areas, whereby the respective geology is also taken into account. Sections 5 and 6, notes on identification (page 80f) and identification key (pages 82 to 111), are a vade mecum for the correct naming of plants.
From page 112 to page 723, four plant species are described on double pages; The descriptions are on the left and the associated drawings on the right. The descriptions follow a consistent pattern, whereby in addition to names and the description of all characteristic features, the graphics in particular prove to be very informative and clear. Maps of the entire Alpine arc including the 36 geographical units, as well as a small sketch of Europe, show the respective distribution of the species in green at a glance. Another graphic shows the altitude levels from "m" like montane (700 to 1850 meters) to "n" like nival (2400 to 2900 meters). In addition, poisonous plants are shown separately.
Bibliography, glossary and index conclude the scientific magnum opus of alpine plants.
Peter M. Kammer, author of the book “Easily Identify Alpine Plants”, which was published in 2021, does not require long introductory chapters. In advance, he notes what his book “can do” and who it is intended for. "[…] with this book, laypeople can quickly and accurately identify the widespread plants in the Alpine region without any prior botanical knowledge." (page 6). Only “easily recognizable features” are used. Technical terms are hardly necessary. Some terms are explained starting on page 386 from “age” to “hermaphrodite flowers” (page 394). There's something else you need to know: The book is limited to species that "regularly occur in the area of the tree line and above." (page 9). Long descriptions of the habitats are omitted here.
Identifying the plants follows an “if-then” pattern and starts with the number 1. It starts on page 12 with 1a Plant climbing up trees, bushes or other aids → Clematis alpina. 1b Plant not climbing → 2. Then it continues. 2a Plant predominantly woody → 3. At most the lowest part of the plant is (somewhat) woody → 4. This pattern, which is located on all pages in the upper area in a gray background information area, ends with the point 939a Flowers brown to dark brown → Luzula alpinopilosa. That would be the brown or brown-blooded hainsim, which is presented on page 385 in the categories, characteristics, reproduction, habitat and interesting facts including a photo.
Kammer explains the exact procedure for this type of plant identification point by point on pages 7 to 11. By the way: "Give yourself some time. The first determination will probably be a bit tedious. But the second one will be a little easier, by the fifth you'll already be familiar with the book and from the twentieth you'll be racing through the key and determining the type and type."
Well, then we want to pick up the book on our next mountain tour and “get to know the plant species of the Alps step by step,” is the subtitle of the book. With this book in your pocket there are 697 species to discover.
The book, published by the Natural History Museum in Vienna and written by a collective of six authors, is intended to "also fit in a backpack and not cause the hiker to become exhausted due to its weight." Not all of them, but rather the “most common and the most conspicuous plants,” as we read in the foreword, are brought together here. Small cards with the outline of Austria and the federal states provide information about their occurrence and distribution.
At the beginning (page 9ff) "The Alps", meaning the Eastern Alps, are described in terms of their origins and structure, with a focus on the stony subsoil, i.e. the geology. In "Special features of mountain plants" (page 17ff) you learn that around 650 species of flowering plants are found in the high altitudes of the Alps, with around 4,500 species in the Alpine region. After the description of the altitude levels, animals are briefly presented and then, in somewhat more detail, the "threat to the Alps" (page 26ff).
The plants are classified according to the color of the flowers, starting with green (= spore plants, grasses, grass-like and conifers) through yellow, white, pink, red, purple, violet and blue. This color guide can be found from page 32, the beginning of the descriptions, on the top left of the page as a narrow strip. Four species are described per double page (left page) and shown as photos (right page). The descriptions of the individual species (of course also with the scientific name) are compact and get to the point (life form, size, flowering time [Roman numerals for the months]). This is followed by information about features and locations, as well as the cards already mentioned. Ultimately, no fewer than 605 species are recorded, described and depicted here.
Conclusion: Oliver Tackenberg's "Alpine Flora" extends as a lexical reference work beyond the Alpine region. “Easily Identify Alpine Plants” by Peter M. Kammer, like “The Plant World of the Austrian Alps” is suitable for backpacking and on-site identification. Recognizing and naming plants takes place in different ways. About an “if-then” approach, on the one hand, or about the flower color, on the other. (Thomas Hofmann, August 8, 2025)