Serpentine group

This display group shows highly specialised species from Austria's serpentine locations: the serpentine Carthusian pink, the serpentine field fleawort (Tephroseris integrifolia subsp. serpentine) and the serpentine cinquefoil (Potentilla crantzii var. serpentini).

Serpentine is a rock containing heavy metals, including iron and nickel. These heavy metals are toxic to most plants. However, a few species have adapted to life on the toxic serpentine soils. Certain species grow exclusively on serpentine, which is why they are referred to as ’serpentine vegetation’. Such species are usually poor competitors on ‘normal’ soils and are often potentially endangered due to the fact that they are limited to few locations.

Austria boasts a variety of serpentine sites, including the probably most famous serpentine site around Bernstein in Burgenland, as well as a range of other deposits in Lower Austria and Styria. The rock derives its name (serpentine) from the Latin word for snake (lat. serpens) and refers to the grey-green, snakeskin-like colour pattern.