Tolpis staticifolia from Salzburg.
A few holiday photos from a visit to Salzburg, and a new plant for me.
First plant of interest was found while visiting the Hohensalzburg Fortress overlooking Salzburg.
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| Tolpis staticifolia, 3rd June 2026. |
A slightly different yellow composite as it showed a dark centre to the flower.
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| The dark centre attracted my attention, as this was something different. |
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| Very narrow leaves, all basal and leafless stems helped identification. |
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Narrow leaves lacking hairs also with a paler main vein. |
Close up view of the inner florets show a different terminal structure to the outer florets, which is why the centre is darker, although photos on the web show this is not always a prominent feature.
Although I did not notice this at the time, the photo shows the ray florets (ligules) are hairy on the undersides, an unusual feature. The narrow phyllaries (involucral bracts) have cobwebby white hairs only.
Final shot showing flowering stems are simple or sparingly branched.
Identification was based using the book, The Alpine Flowers of Britain and Europe by Christopher Grey-Wilson and Majorie Blaney, 1979. On return from my holiday, I purchased Europe's Alpine Flowers by Bob Gibbons part of the WILDGuides series. This recent book covers more species and contains concise useful information.
Tolpis staticifolia was previously called Hieracium staticifolia and it is hard to find more detail on its characteristics. The hairs on the underside of the ligules and the strange terminations to the inner ligules, which make the centre dark, are unusual, but I didn't find any reference to them in a limited search of either the web or standard literature.
Peter Leonard
Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, UK
7th July 2026
