Plants
In Rago the pine forests dominate, with lush patches of deciduous forest in between. Up the ridges towards the tree line,the mountain birch gradually takes over. The climate in the area is harsh, making even hardy mountain plants such as alpine yellow-violet, alpine lady’s-mantle and roseroot seek refuge in the valley. The wet and marine-influenced climate also means that several species have their easternmost distribution in Rago. An example is the beautiful bog asphodel, which is rare this far east, but commonly found in the bogs around Storskogvatnet.
Photo: Gunnar Rofstad.
Photo: Marius Saunders
Forest and fungi
In Rago you can find very old pine forest and plenty of dead wood. This provides good living conditions for fungi. 20 red-listed mushroom species have been documented in the old pine forest, including Skeletocutis stellae, Acanthophysellum lividocoeruleum and Amylocorticium laceratum. Rago is therefore considered one of the Norway’s most important areas for the conservation of bark fungi. It is therefore very important that dry and dead pine is not used for firewood.
Geology
Most of the bedrock in Rago consists of hard granite.av berggrunnen i Rago består av hard granitt. The glaciers that covered Rago National Park in the past has largely influenced the landscape as it is today. Sand, smaller and larger stones and rocks were dragged under the ice from east to west. When the ice retreated, we were left with bare rock and large boulders. In the south-eastern parts of the national park there is a smaller area of slate, where the plant life is more diverse.
Photo: Oskar Pettersen