Calamine flowers
Stolberg
The unique galmeiflora in and around Stolberg is particularly evident in the months of May to August. Galmeiflora or galmei vegetation is the botanical name of two plant communities of metallophytes on soil containing heavy metals. The unique galmeiflora in and around Stolberg is particularly evident in the months of May to August, when the galmei violets bloom in the galmei meadows. Galmeiflora or galmei vegetation is the botanical name of two plant communities of metallophytes on heavy metal-bearing soil, whose respective leading species and eponym in Latin (violetum) are the two strongly endemic species of galmei violet. Specific occurrences are called galmei grasslands or galmei meadows. The galmeiflora belongs to the galmei plants and forms a pedobiome on a heavy metal lawn. In the border triangle near Aachen, it owes its Latin name violetum calaminariae and its uniqueness to its leading species, the yellow calamine violet (Viola calaminaria), which is only found here. Prof. Dr. Mathias Schwickerath (1892-1974) was the first botanist to describe it under the name "Zinc Plant Society". In addition, the plant community formed by the purple galmei pansy with Haller's foam cress (Arabidopsis halleri) (Violetum guestphalicae) is regarded as a separate subtype of the galmei flora. However, the absence of the calmei pansy and the presence of Haller's foam cress, which is absent in the Aachen triangle, brings it closer to another heavy metal flora, the grass carnation flora.