Grindjisee

The Grindjisee is one of the highlights of the Five Lakes Walk. This small stretch of water with its abundance of moorland flora is a magnet for biologists and botanists and a treat for all nature lovers. The lake lies behind the former lateral moraine of a retreated glacier, and its shores offer a habitat for many rare plants. At the beginning of the 19th century, English botanists came to Zermatt specifically to study the wealth of alpine flora around the Grindjisee and at other key sites.

• Starry saxifrage (Saxifraga stellaris)
• Mountain arnica (Arnica montana)
• Glacier wormwood (endemic, Artemisia glacialis)
• Yellow alpine pasqueflower (Pulsatilla apiifolia)
• Sandy spurry (Spergularia rubra)
• Haller’s pasqueflower (Pulsatilla halleri)
• Black vanilla orchid (Nigritella nigra)

Reading
“Alpine flowers around Zermatt”, by Hanspeter Steidle, published by edition punktuell, Herisau, 2009. Bilingual German/English, ISBN 978-3-905724-15-8