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The flora
 The Ledro Valley represents a sort of bridge which is suspended at an altitude of about 700 m. between Lake Garda (65 m.) and Lake Idro (368 m.).
Because of this unusual location we quickly come from a practically Mediterranean climate to an alpine one. This peculiarity has concentrated in the valley and on its slopes a very varied flora. Of course the climate is not homogenous and depends on the altitude, orientation and insolation; we can single out four different climate zones. The first one covers the eastern sector of the valley up to 600 m. altitude, here the valley is enclosed by sheer mountains and the influence of Lake Garda is so strong that there is even vine growing and the average annual temperature is 10&Mac186; C. The second climate zone extends from Molina to Bezzecca. Here the valley is open and characterized by the presence of the lake. The average annual temperature is about 8-9&Mac186; C. The third one, which includes the Concei Valley with its three villages, Tiarno di Sotto, Tiarno di Sopra and the Ampola Valley in the West, has a more rigorous climate with an average temperature of only 7 degrees centigrade. Finally the fourth zone refers to the mountains at about 1550-2250 metres a.s.l., here we have a typical cold altitude climate characterized by a wide temperature range between day and night as well as between summer and winter. The average annual temperature on mountain is 4-5&Mac186; C.
As far as the winds is concerned the Ledro Valley is well sheltered by the high mountains in the North and the local atmosphere moves round forming interior breezes. Snow usually reigns on the top of the mountains from November to April while in the valley you may find snow from December for about 3 months.
Concerning the vegetation distribution you can observe how the eastern zone is rich in Mediterranean species like the holm-oak (Quercus ilex) and the butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus), while not very far away we find alpine and rock plants like the stone-break and the edelweiss. During the ice ages the highest peaks of Ledro had remained free from the ice and formed a natural shelter for those plants and animals that afterwards had a very limited range zone. Especially the mountains of the Concei Valley were saved by the ice that covered everything up to 1700-1800 m. and became sort of islands above the ice-field. The species that have survived and that are original of the Tertiary (Cainozoic) are called endemic species, today they are very rare, as an example we can mention the sedge Carex baldensis with its white spikes, the Primula auricola and the Primula spectabilis, the catchfly Silene elisabethae, the Viola dubyana, the stone break Saxifraga tombeanensis and the Phisoplexis comosa. Many of these plants were able to overcome the ice age by finding a shelter in caves and rock ravines, at present they grow mixed with the most common graminaceous species on the mountain ridges and alpine pastures.
If you want to learn more about the flora and to observe the endemic species you can join the "Settimane Natura" hiking program and its introduction evenings with slide projection.
The Ledro pastures are usually below the natural grassland (2100 metres a.s.l.) and occupy deforested areas under the 1800 m. altitude, while the woods that cover about 75% of our territory are mixed and have an high percentage of conifers. Red-deal, larch, silver-fir, Scotch pine and - at a higher altitude - mountain pine trees are very common. Beech, horn-beam, manna-ash are to be found all over up to 1000 m. above the sea level, but also oaks, elms, maples and of course durnmast, laburnum and hazel trees.
The heather Erica carnea, different sorts of fern as well as mushrooms and delicious berries thrive in the underbush and different kind of broom grow in the sunny areas. There are also many wild fruit trees like the walnut that we often see near the hay-lofts and on the valley terraces.
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official web-site of Consorzio Pro Loco Valle di Ledro
