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: Carmelia Arias Linares, sec­re­tary from Ilanz. She has been with Flo­ra Raet­i­ca since 2024.

Pic­tured: Carmelia Arias Linares in Val Teni­gia (Val Sumvitg). Pho­to: Salome Arias Linares.

Carmelia, what do you love about plants?
Their beau­ty, their diver­si­ty, and their struc­ture, per­fect down to the small­est detail. I nev­er cease to be fas­ci­nat­ed by observ­ing plants through a mag­ni­fy­ing glass. I’m also cap­ti­vat­ed by their devel­op­ment through­out the year—from ger­mi­na­tion, through flow­er­ing and fruit set, to prepar­ing for win­ter. Even when dried out, many plants are still beau­ti­ful.

How did you get into botany?
I’ve always been pas­sion­ate about plants. In 2024, I decid­ed to take a career break and set out to learn more about the plant world. I start­ed with a basic course in field botany and an intro­duc­to­ry course at Flo­ra Raet­i­ca.

Do you have a favorite plant that grows in Graubün­den? Why that one in par­tic­u­lar?
Ever since I was a child, my favorite flower has been the daisy (Latin: *margri­ta*, *flur per mint­ga meins*—a flower for every month). It grows all year round and nev­er fails to delight me with its sim­ple appear­ance and gold­en cen­ter. Two years ago, I dis­cov­ered Tri­foli­um arvense (field clover) and imme­di­ate­ly fell in love with this plant. It’s real­ly fluffy and soft, just like a rabbit’s fur. But to be hon­est: On every out­ing, I find a new favorite plant.

How did you first hear about Flo­ra Raet­i­ca?
By chance—or was it fate? I had read a short arti­cle about the project in *Quo­tid­i­ana* and then con­tact­ed the project coor­di­na­tor, Ingrid Jansen. Then one thing led to anoth­er, and sud­den­ly I was right in the thick of it.

What is your con­tri­bu­tion to the project?
In the win­ter of 2025, I helped col­lect his­tor­i­cal data for the Sur­sel­va region—an excit­ing and inter­est­ing task. When­ev­er I have time and my knowl­edge of plants allows, I also enjoy report­ing plant sight­ings. I think it’s great that even small con­tri­bu­tions count and are appre­ci­at­ed at Flo­ra Raet­i­ca.

Was there a dis­cov­ery or a moment out­doors that you’ll nev­er for­get?
At the end of June 2025, I was cycling along the Polen­weg to har­vest the last of the elder­flow­ers. As I was park­ing my bike, my house key slipped out of my pants pock­et. When I went to pick it up, I spot­ted a tiny, pink flower by the side of the path. Imag­ine my sur­prise when it turned out to be a small cen­tau­ry (Cen­tau­ri­um pul­chel­lum). The dis­cov­ery was a pure coin­ci­dence, and I was over­joyed to have found such a rare species.

What does a suc­cess­ful day in the field mean to you?
When I don’t even real­ize it’s high time to go home, and when I’ve dis­cov­ered yet anoth­er new plant.

What advice would you give to peo­ple who are inter­est­ed in plants in Graubün­den?
Join Flo­ra Raet­i­ca, take a beginner’s course in field botany, and be curi­ous and obser­vant. You’ll make your first sur­pris­ing plant dis­cov­er­ies right on your own doorstep.

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Does Carmeli­a’s tip make you want to learn more?

Any­one who would like to deep­en their knowl­edge of plants after com­plet­ing the intro­duc­to­ry course (or even with­out hav­ing tak­en the intro­duc­to­ry course) can take the Advanced Course in Field Botany in 2027. The 1½-year Advanced Course in Field Botany com­bines in-depth botan­i­cal knowl­edge with exten­sive hands-on expe­ri­ence in the field and includes 14 half-day and full-day field trips as well as four half-day the­o­ry ses­sions.

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