Triglav Hawksbeard (Crepis terglouensis)

Four brave men from Bohinj first climbed Triglav in 1778. At that time the physician, natural historian and mountaineer, Balthasar Hacquet, lived and worked at the mercury mine in Idrija and in the Carniolan capital, Ljubljana. He was also involved with the study of plants in the Slovene high mountains. He had already tried to conquer our highest peak in 1777, and he succeeded two years later. When he was climbing along scree towards Ledine, where today the Planika mountain hostel stands, he picked an unknown flower, similar to dandelion, and classified it in the hawkbit genus, naming it after Triglav. It was later established that it was, in fact, a hawksbeard, but it retained its species name.

Triglav Hawksbeard is anchored in shallow scree with short, powerful roots. The low stem is vertical, carries a single, relatively large inflorescence consisting of golden yellow, linguiform flowers. At first sight it is reminiscent of dandelion. The deeply indented leaves are in a basal rosette.

It appears in Slovenia rarely, in the Julian Alps around Triglav and other peaks which rise above the Vrata valley, as well as on Prestreljenik in the Kanin massif. This Triglav flower also ornaments rough scree in the Alps in Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany. It is not common anywhere. And it is known everywhere that its birthplace is in the kingdom of Triglav. For this very reason, it is classified among rare species in the Slovene Red List of threatened species.