Flo­ra Raet­i­ca relies on the ded­i­ca­tion of its vol­un­teers. Through their obser­va­tions, they make an impor­tant con­tri­bu­tion to doc­u­ment­ing the flo­ra of Graubün­den.

In our por­trait series, we intro­duce the peo­ple behind Flo­ra Raet­i­ca.

Today: Urban Angehrn, a mem­ber of the board of direc­tors from Greifensee. He has been involved in the project since spring 2022.

Pho­to: Urban Angehrn (self­ie)

Urban, what do you love about plants?
The diver­si­ty and the beau­ty.

How did you get into botany?
As a stu­dent, I knew a thing or two about plants. My moth­er was a farmer and taught us kids the names of many plants. Dur­ing a sab­bat­i­cal between two jobs in 2005, I bought my first dig­i­tal cam­era and the first edi­tion of “Flo­ra Hel­veti­ca,” part­ly thanks to my wife’s encour­age­ment. Botany has been my hob­by ever since.

Do you have a favorite plant that grows in Graubün­den? Why that one in par­tic­u­lar?
Cor­tusa matthi­oli, the bell­flower. I first saw it in Val Sines­tra in 2009. It’s a fas­ci­nat­ing­ly beau­ti­ful plant that grows only hid­den in the shade.

Which plant did you only come to appre­ci­ate at sec­ond glance?
Espe­cial­ly the species in the genus Carex (sedges).

Why are you involved with Flo­ra Raet­i­ca?
Flo­ra Raet­i­ca is the ide­al project for me: I’ve been com­ing to Graubün­den on vaca­tion for over 50 years. I’ve been lead­ing botan­i­cal field trips here for over 20 years. And I’ve had a sec­ond home in Klosters for 10 years. The project is well orga­nized, and on our group field trips, we enjoy great cama­raderie and many keen eyes.

What is your con­tri­bu­tion to Flo­ra Raet­i­ca?
Every year, I pro­vide the project with sev­er­al hun­dred sight­ing reports and, when­ev­er pos­si­ble, doc­u­ment them with good pho­tos that Flo­ra Raet­i­ca can also use if need­ed. Togeth­er with the project coor­di­na­tor, I man­age the Insta­gram account @floraraetica. And I also enjoy going on field missions—sometimes even with suc­cess!

Was there a dis­cov­ery or moment out­doors that you’ll nev­er for­get?
I knew that the lake quill­wort ( Isoetes lacus­tris ) grows in Laghet­to Moeso­la on the San Bernardi­no Pass. On my first vis­it, I actu­al­ly spot­ted some of these prim­i­tive lit­tle plants right away—they had washed up on the shore—an unfor­get­table moment.

Do you have a per­son­al nature tip relat­ed to botany for Graubün­den?
Don’t just vis­it the botan­i­cal “hot spots” like the Low­er Enga­dine or Davos. Hike into val­leys and up moun­tains that are off the beat­en path, keep your eyes open, and let your­self be sur­prised!

Would you like to sup­port Flo­ra Raet­i­ca, too? You can find all the infor­ma­tion you need to get involved here.