It can be advantageous to be small. Moss campion grows in compact, moss-like cushions on open grassland and scree, mainly on limestone and dolomite. The little pink flowers are carried on 3cm long stems. Depending on the altitude, they bloom in the National Park in July and August. Moss campion cushions can reach a diameter of over a metre. They are real recycling factories: their closed form allows water and heat to be retained, whilst dead plant material is converted into a new supply of nutrients. It takes hundreds of years for such a cushion to be large enough to cover a square metre.
