Specimen · N°008 · Ice · ▶ Film
Pruinanthus alpinus
First-frost Flower
It blooms just once a year, for only half a day.
FOUND 36.3°N 137.6°E · Alpine zone of the Japanese Alps · ✝ EX · Last seen 1999
It blooms just once a year, for only half a day.
A small perennial about 6–10 cm tall. It lays dark-green slender leaves flat to the ground against the cold. The flowers are pale lilac and crocus-like, wilting by late morning as the frost melts. It opens for only half a day in the whole year.
Film coming soon
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It blooms only the morning after the first frost.
And so it can be seen but once a year.
The alpine gravel of the Japanese Alps.
In autumn, the morning after the first frost, the First-frost Flower appears.
Its slender dark-green leaves lie flat to the ground against the cold.
From among frost-wet gravel, a pale lilac flower quietly rises.
