The Beauty of Qaqortoq, Greenland

I like to take walks around Qaqortoq and take photo’s. Some photo’s might be of blossoms, while others might be of brightly painted houses, icebergs and whatever else that might catch my eyes. I also like to go to the flower shop and take photo’s what might be interesting there as well.

Achillea ptarmica – Sneezewort
I saw these cool little flowers on my way to the library. I thought I wasn’t going to get to write much about this particular plant because I couldn’t seem to put an ID on it but looks like I have located the name of the plant. Yay! This particular set of photo’s of this particular blossom seems late in blooming to my observation. These seem to be the first ones I’ve seen since the late spring season started. There has been lots of blossoms but I haven’t taken one photo of this particular Genus since I started this season.

This is an attractive, erect, medium sized perennial which grows in damp grassy places and marshes. The daisy-type flowers (12-20mm) are made up of broad, short rays (petals) and the center is a disc of tubular florets. They are borne on tall stems (to 60cm) in flat clusters from July to September.

The leaves of Sneezewort are stalkless, narrow and have finely serrated edges. I am not sure if this is a native plant to Greenland however this plant belongs to the family Asteraceae.

I’m amazed at the amount of flowers I see all over this small town. Despite the rocky areas, and the subarctic terrain, plants seem to thrive here.

This plant, which is highly valued by insects, is poisonous to sheep, cattle and horses. The dried leaves were used to make a type of snuff and a sneezing powder, as the name might suggest, and also the dried flowers were used to make a tea, which was a remedy for head colds and headaches.

There doesn’t seem to be enough information locally to learn more about this particular plant of the so many other ones that I have taken multiple photo’s of. The language barrier also prevents me from learning more as well so it’s possible that I will make mistakes with identifying some plants. So if you’re reading this and you know more than me and feel that what I have given an identification to is incorrect, please feel free to notify me and direct me to the site of the correct identification of plants I may mistakenly identified.

Down below for more information of these plants as well as I wanted to make sure there was links from where I gained the information to identify these plants. I think they are very interesting to look at.

http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/plant_detail.php?id_flower=240&wildflower=Sneezewort

http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/sneezewort

Published by Living Greenland

My name is Katy and I have been living in South Greenland since August 2011. I was born in Charleston, South Carolina, raised in Florida, and migrated to South Greenland through marriage. I am married to an amazing Greenlandic man living 60º N - about 670 km south of the Arctic Circle. I am a master gardener of 50 years. I started my love of ornamental gardening at the young age of 11. My paternal aunt gave me my first cutting and told me how to plant it. She also showed me some simple crochet stitches and sent me home with a cutting of coleus and a crochet hook with some yarn. At eleven it was like taking home a prize. Little did I know what would happen because of that. I learned how to sew my own clothing during my teenage years and that sewing has flowed over into me learning how to be a quilt maker. I love to take photographs of everything that catches my eye. I have thousands of photos. I am in love with icebergs. I don't think I will ever tire of seeing them and taking photos of them. The Greenland landscape is magnificent and it never disappoints. I also love to crochet as well as cook. I love making up my own recipes and serving them up to my "Heart Light" for test tasting. He is such a trooper. For the most part, he loves everything I've made. I'm a summer tourist guide and love it when fellow Americans come to visit us so that I can tell them about Greenland and most of the time I always tell our story since it's so special. I have 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren. I have grown to love Greenland as much as I love my home country USA. Greenland is like no other place and I will write lots about it and share photographs as well. I also love music and movies as well and I like to read. I will also be sharing blogs about quilt-making and other subjects that I'm involved with. View more posts