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| Plants of the Inland Dunes south of Mannheim in Summer |
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The inland dune areas 'Unterer Dossenwald' and 'Hirschacker' are situated between Mannheim-Rheinau, Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld and Schwetzingen.
Moreover the area of the Rheinau Lake, which is completely surrounded by buildings, is a valuable inland dune biotope.
The inland dunes are wind-borne sand fields which came into being, when during the ice ages strong winds blew sand out of the gravel, which the then still meandering Rhine carried from the Alpes and deposited at its edges.
The inland dunes came into being when at the end of the ice ages strong winds blew sand out of the gravel, which the then still meandering Rhine carried from the Alpes and deposited at its edges.
Since there are extreme conditions of the environment, for example dryness and very high soil temperatures of up to 70 degrees celsius in summer, special communities of plants have formed here.
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Helichrysum arenarium / Yellow Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Plantago arenaria / Branched Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Berteroa incana / Hoary Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Helianthemum nummularium / Common Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Salsola tragus / Russian Thistle, Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Teucrium botrys / Cut-Leaved Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Scabiosa canescens / Fragrant Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Sedum acre / Biting Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Jasione montana / Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Also the fauna of the inland dunes is highly specialised: for example the Sand Wasp Bembix rostrata (left) which digs a subway up to 20 centimeters deep for every egg and supplies the offspring with paralysed insects,
or the Northern Dune Tiger Beetle Cicindela hybrida (right) which is walking jerkily and is catching other insects.
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The White Mullein Verbascum lychnitis of which the flower is only white here is the most frequent of several species of this genus:
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Verbascum lychnitis / White Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Verbascum densiflorum / Dense-flowered Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Verbascum nigrum / Dark Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Ononis repens subsp. procurrens / Common Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Thymus serpyllum / Breckland Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Echium vulgare / Viper's Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Reseda lutea / Wild Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Senecio inaequidens / Narrow-Leaved Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Ambrosia coronopifolia / Perennial Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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In the loose pine wood Cross-Leaved Gentian Gentiana cruciata
as well as Dark-red Helleborine Epipactis atrorubens
and Broad-Leaved Helleborine Epipactis helleborine are some of the more rare plants.
Gentiana cruciata / Cross-Leaved Moss
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Epipactis atrorubens, Dark-red Helleborine
Orchidaceae / Orchids
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Epipactis helleborine, Broad-Leaved Helleborine
Orchidaceae / Orchids
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Also some neophytes have settled in the sunny sand dunes, but in 2014 the nature protection authorities seem to have removed the Nightshades while the Goosefoot is eaten by rabbits.
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Dysphania botrys / Sticky Helleborine, Jerusalem Oak
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Solanum triflorum / Small Helleborine
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Solanum nitidibaccatum / Ground-Cherry Helleborine, Hairy Helleborine
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Oenothera biennis / Common Helleborine
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Oenothera canovirens / Renner's Helleborine
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Oenothera oakesiana / Sandy Helleborine
Juncaceae / Rush Fam.
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Naturally this list isn't complete. It will be continued on occasion.
There is also a page on spring flowering plants in the same area.
The pages on Nature Reserves near Sandhausen and
the Viernheimer Heide deal with the flora of inland dunes, too.
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