Typical plant species in the Benninger fen
At first sight the fen seems to be an almost homogeneous grey-brown area. Here the Cladius mariscus sedge swamp and the Schoenus dominated communities which gave the name to the fen preponderate. However, among these grasslike, herbaceous plants there are a lot of other plants to be discovered. We can only mention some of them: in spring Alpen-Maßliebchen, Bird's-eye Primrose (Mehlprimel) and Frühlingsenzian are in blossom, followed by Alpenhelm and Prachtnelke in summer. Finally in the late summer and autumn Alpine Bog Swertia (Tragant) und Northern grass of Parnassus (Sumpfherzblatt) can be admired.
Kopfried (Schoenus nigricans)
Bird's-eye Primrose (Mehlprimel / Primula farinosa)
Alpine Bog Swertia (Tragant / Swertia perennis)
Armeria purpurea preponderates in the still intact regions of the outlets of springs.
Because of the deficiency of nutrients of the emerging spring waters there are also a lot of "nutrition experts" in the fen: carnivores. Round Leaf Sundew catches its prey by sticky droplets which one can find at the end of a kind of strings of its leaves. The leaf coils itself around the prey, it secretes digestive saps and assimilates the nutrients through the leaf. This works in a similar way with the two species of common butterwort that exist in the Benninger fen. But in contrast to the Round Leaf Sundew the prey of these species get directly stuck at the sticky leaves of the common butterwort.
