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The 47-acre Côte de Gargantua Nature Reserve stretches between 2001 and 2.545 ft in the Municipality of Gressan, Aosta.

Behind the town of Gressan, there’s a characteristic ridge which reaches the Aosta Plain, about 2.624-ft meters long and rich in glaciation deposits. Its peculiar shape has always aroused curiosity and triggered the birth of many legends embedded with the very name of this reserve: the “Côte” would be the “little finger” of the legendary Gargantua giant, who’s buried under a layer of debris.

In the reserve, there are small rodents, birds of prey and also reptiles (wall lizards, green lizards, green whip snakes) and invertebrates.

BOTANICAL FEATURES

This area is home to rare plants of steppe or Mediterranean origin. Among the spontaneous shrubs typical of dry environments, there’s common juniper (Juniperus communis), bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), and the rare and poisonous Daphne alpina.

The herbaceous flora hosts species such as Artemisia vallesiaca, goldilocks aster (Aster linosyris), and telephium (Telephium imperati).
There are also several plants introduced by man, such as corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas), hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), and garden cornflower (Cyanus segetum).

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)