The Arctic Circle is defined as that region of the world above around 66 degrees north latitude. Within this area, there is at least one day in the year when the sun is above continuously during the day (the Midnight Sun phenomenon). At around 71 degrees north latitude, the town of Honningsvåg in Norway lies in this fabled region, and as befits its notable station in life, it lies in a mainly tree-less environment dominated by more hardy grasses and other herbaceous plants.
Close to the town is an area considered to be the northernmost tip of the European mainland called Nordkapp (North Cape). An exhibition hall and film theater was constructed atop this ocean-side sheer cliff.
Unfortunately, this early in the season this far north, most of the grasses and other flowering plants were just beginning to emerge or were still dormant.
But amazingly enough, there were green islands of at least one grass in the otherwise barren grounds of the Nordkapp (North Cape).
Even more amazing were the beautiful inflorescence that i saw emerging from some of the culms in these grass islands.
They were a deep purple in color, and after some searching I found out that these partially flowering plants may be from the C3 genus Poa of the subfamily Pooideae, perhaps of the native grass species Poa alpina (although as always i am open to suggestions).
Scattered among these green islands, there were also some plants that I at first thought were Poaceae, but which are probably sedges or from some other plant family.
Also nearby to the town of Honningsvåg are the acclaimed Sherpa Steps or Nordkapptrappa (North Cape Staircase). These stone steps were moved and emplaced by helicopter, and constructed by the Sherpas, the famed guides and explorers from Nepal. The stairway goes up to the peak of the next door mountain of Storfjellet, and the trailhead is within short walking distance from the center of the small town.
The peak of the mountain is some 300 meters above sea level, and pretty much all the vegetation on it is still dormant.
Nevertheless, it was still possible to find some greenery, and I took my time doing some macros of the few specimens that were green.
The plant I spotted was graminoid looking, and it had dark purple extensions that made me first think it was the grass species Nardus stricta. But after examining the pics i took I had to admit it was likely not that species.
In the end, the earliness of the summer season and the pace of the hike meant that I did not encounter many interesting grasses during the visit to the Honningsvåg area. But it was a very enjoyable trip nonetheless and our exploration of the far north continued as we made our way towards the archipelago of Svabard.
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