--- title: "Poskla nature monument | Hutisko-Solanec" description: "Poskla above Hutisko-Solanec holds a wet meadow of gladioli, a small peat bog and a juniper slope. See nature shaped by the way it was farmed." url: "https://zpusteven.cz/en/poskla" lang: "en" latitude: 49.4368908 longitude: 18.2225314 --- ![The Poskla nature monument on the north slope above Hutisko-Solanec](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/poskla/1280/IMG_7184.avif) Nature monument • Hutisko-Solanec • 495–565 m a.s.l. # Poskla Three plots on one hillside, three completely different worlds. The difference between them is the work of water, clay and human hands. - **Area:** 2.45 ha - **Separate plots:** three (meadow, peat bog, slope) - **Altitude:** 495–565 m a.s.l. - **Protected since:** 1988 ## A hill that stayed varied A kilometre north of Hutisko-Solanec, on the slope of the hill Poskla, lie **three plots covering 2.45 hectares in all**. From a distance they look like a piece of ordinary meadow. They are anything but - each of the three is completely different. On the first, gladioli and orchids flower by the hundred. The second is a small peat bog with moss hummocks. The third is a dry slope of juniper and heather, now grazed by sheep. Poskla is protected for that variety rather than for any single rare species. ![The Poskla nature monument above Hutisko-Solanec](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/poskla/1280/IMG_7187.avif) Poskla lies off the waymarked paths - a piece of ordinary Wallachian countryside that kept what has gone elsewhere. Why come here ### Three habitats on one walk A wet meadow, a peat bog and a dry juniper slope lie **a few hundred metres apart**. Nowhere else around do they meet in so small a space. What not to miss ### The Turkish marsh gladiolus - by the hundred On the wet meadow **hundreds of Turkish marsh gladioli come into flower in early summer**. Marsh orchids, the early-purple orchid and viper's grass flower around them. When to come ### From May to July The orchids flower in May and June, the gladiolus in early summer, and the heather on the third plot only in late summer. **The plots are not waymarked** - look from the tracks and keep out of the vegetation. ![The Poskla nature monument - a view across the meadow to the surrounding hills](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/poskla/1280/IMG_7191.avif) ![The Poskla nature monument - a slope overgrown with ferns in the undergrowth](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/poskla/1280/IMG_7199.avif) ![The Poskla nature monument - a clearing at the edge of the wood](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/poskla/1280/IMG_7201.avif) ## The three plots of Poskla One hillside, three addresses Poskla shows how varied **a single hill** could be. On the north slope of the hill Poskla (576 m a.s.l.) lie three separate plots only a few hundred metres apart - and yet on one the foot sinks into moss soaked with water, while on another dry juniper grows with heather. The higher up the slope, the drier it gets and the poorer the soil. The labels **Poskla I, II and III** come from the management plans of [the Beskydy PLA Administration](https://beskydy.aopk.gov.cz/) and are used by [the Chráněná území ČR portal](http://www.chranena-uzemi.cz/poskla.php) as well, which describes the site in most detail. Poskla I 0.58 ha ### The wet meadow A flowering meadow as people picture one - only far richer It lies about 350 metres north of the summit on a gentle slope where impermeable bedrock holds the water, so the soil stays damp. In early summer hundreds of Turkish marsh gladioli turn it purple, with orchids flowering among them. It is a meadow mown once a year, and the plants here are used to exactly that rhythm. - **What keeps it:** Damp soil on a gentle slope and mowing once a year Plants you may meet on the wet meadow of Poskla I - ![A Turkish marsh gladiolus - purple flowers in a one-sided spike above a grassy meadow](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/gladiolus-imbricatus.avif) #### Turkish marsh gladiolus Gladiolus imbricatus The most striking plant here - a slender stem carrying a one-sided spike of purple flowers. Several hundred plants flower on Poskla I in early summer; outside the protected meadows you will hardly meet it around here. Foto: [Dr. Killer, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:B%C3%BArov%C3%A1%5F4%5F-%5FGladiolus%5Fimbricatu.JPG), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![A common spotted orchid - a pale pink orchid spike with spotted leaves](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/dactylorhiza-fuchsii.avif) #### Common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii The commonest orchid here - it grows on the wet meadow and in the peat bog alike. The spike is pale pink with darker markings on the lip, and the leaves are usually spotted. It flowers in June. Foto: [Uoaei1, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dactylorhiza%5Ffuchsii%5FMariazell%5F01.JPG), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) - ![A western marsh orchid - a dense purple orchid spike on a wet meadow](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/dactylorhiza-majalis.avif) #### Western marsh orchid Dactylorhiza majalis The spike is dense and deep purple, the leaves usually darkly spotted. It flowers from May - come in May and June for the best chance of catching it. Foto: [Jörg Hempel, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dactylorhiza%5Fmajalis%5FLC0269.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0 DE](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.cs) - ![An early-purple orchid - three crimson orchid spikes in the grass](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/orchis-mascula.avif) #### Early-purple orchid Orchis mascula subsp. signifera The spike is crimson, it grows on the mown meadow and the leaves are often darkly spotted. It flowers early, in May and June; later nothing is left of it but a leaf. Foto: [Hans Hillewaert, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orchis%5Fmascula%5F%28trio%29.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![A common twayblade - an orchid with greenish flowers and two large oval leaves](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/neottia-ovata.avif) #### Common twayblade Neottia ovata An inconspicuous orchid with greenish flowers. Anyone hunting for it without looking for the pair of large oval leaves facing each other at the base of the stem will easily walk past it. Foto: [Rob Hille, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neottia%5Fovata%5FR.H.%5F%2814%29.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![Viper's grass - a yellow flower head on a low stem](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1024/scorzonera-humilis.avif) #### Viper's grass Scorzonera humilis It has a yellow flower head on a low stem, and after flowering the plumed achenes are left, as on a dandelion. It declines wherever meadows are drained - on Poskla I it is one of the constants. Foto: [Algirdas, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scorzonera%5Fhumilis%5Fziedas.JPG), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) Poskla II 0.61 ha ### The peat bog The smallest, the wettest and the strangest of the three About 350 metres north-east of the summit. The moss has grown into springy cushions – hummocks - that a foot sinks into, and in permanent wet the dead plants do not decay, they simply build up as peat. Lower down, the bog turns into a peaty and mat-grass sward. Bogbean shows that the wetland still works; the rare bog arum grows here too. - **What keeps it:** Water that seeps through the slope instead of running away What you may meet in the peat bog of Poskla II - ![The flower spike of a marsh helleborine - white and pink flowers marked in crimson on a slender stem](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/epipactis-palustris.avif) #### Marsh helleborine Epipactis palustris An orchid of wetlands with white and pink flowers marked in crimson; it flowers in June and July. It grows right in the waterlogged ground - look from the track. Foto: [Bernd Haynold, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Epipactis%5Fpalustris%5F230705.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![Bogbean - white flowers with fringed petals above the surface of a wetland](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/menyanthes-trifoliata.avif) #### Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata Three-part leaves and white fringed flowers in spring. It has a viable population on Poskla II - a reliable sign that the peat bog still works. Foto: [Uoaei1, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Menyanthes%5Ftrifoliata%5FSpechtensee%5F01.JPG), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) - ![A bog arum - heart-shaped leaves and a white spathe around the flower head](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/calla-palustris.avif) #### Bog arum Calla palustris A wetland plant with heart-shaped leaves and a white spathe around the flower head; in autumn it carries a cluster of bright red fruit. Only a small population of it grows on Poskla II. Foto: [Aiwok, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calla%5Fpalustris.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![A fire salamander - a black amphibian with yellow markings on the forest floor](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/salamandra-salamandra.avif) #### Fire salamander Salamandra salamandra A black amphibian with bold yellow markings. It comes out in damp weather and towards evening, mainly after rain. Do not pick it up - the skin gives off an irritant secretion. Foto: [Skot, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salamandra%5Fsalamandra%5F%E2%80%93%5Fmlok%5Fskvrnit%C3%BD%5F%E2%80%93%5FTich%C3%A9%5F%C3%BAdol%C3%AD.jpg), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) - ![A yellow-bellied toad - a small warty toad on wet ground](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/bombina-variegata.avif) #### Yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegata A small toad of shallow puddles and pools. You are more likely to know it by its voice - a quiet “unk, unk” - and by the yellow and black belly it shows when threatened. Foto: [Christian Fischer, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BombinaVariegataJuv.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![A round-leaved sundew - round leaves with red glandular hairs holding drops of sticky secretion](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/drosera-rotundifolia.avif)Last seen in the 1990s #### Round-leaved sundew Drosera rotundifolia A carnivorous plant of peat bogs. It was recorded at Poskla until the mid-1990s, and its presence has not been confirmed since. The sundew is disappearing from other Beskid sites as well. Foto: [Migas, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drosera-rotundifolia.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) Poskla III 1.16 ha ### The juniper slope A former pasture the sheep have come back to The largest and driest plot, about 200 metres east of the summit, on a steeper slope below a low ridge of hard sandstone. It used to be the village pasture; after years lying fallow, grazing returned to it, and sheep graze the slope today. Grazing and the dry stony soil are what keep the heath open, so bilberry and stemless carline thistle grow beside the juniper. Without grazing there would have been woodland here long ago. - **What keeps it:** Dry stony soil and grazing - by sheep once again What you may meet on the juniper slope of Poskla III - ![A common juniper - a prickly conical coniferous shrub in the open](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/juniperus-communis.avif) #### Common juniper Juniperus communis The prickly shrub that gives the third plot its character. It survived on pastures precisely because livestock will not graze it - the needles prick. It is a typical companion of grazed slopes. Foto: [kallerna, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Juniperus%5Fcommunis%5Fin%5FYyteri%5F2.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![Sheep grazing a grassy slope](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/640/ovis-aries.avif) #### Sheep Ovis aries Their grazing keeps the juniper slope open just as the village livestock once did: they prefer grass and leave the juniper and heather to grow. Foto: [Nigel Chadwick, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sheep%5Fgrazing%5Fin%5Fthe%5FLulworth%5FRanges%5F-%5Fgeograph.org.uk%5F-%5F764505.jpg), [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) - ![Kněžice jalovcová - a green true bug](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1024/chlorochroa-juniperina.avif) #### Kněžice jalovcová Chlorochroa juniperina A green true bug, a rare and local species tied in its development to the common juniper. Without the junipers on the third plot it would not be here. Foto: [AfroBrazilian, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chlorochroa%5Fjuneperina%5F01.JPG), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) - ![Heather - small purple flowers on a low shrub](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/calluna-vulgaris.avif) #### Heather Calluna vulgaris It flowers purple only in late summer and autumn, when the flowers are over elsewhere. On the poor acid soil of the third plot it forms continuous stands. Foto: [Andreas Eichler, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2016.08.21.-14-Gorxheimertal--Besenheide.jpg), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) - ![A lesser butterfly-orchid - a loose spike of white flowers with long spurs](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/platanthera-bifolia.avif) #### Lesser butterfly-orchid Platanthera bifolia A white orchid with two large leaves at the base - it grows on the dry slope too. Its scent is stronger towards evening: it draws the night moths that pollinate it. Foto: [Hans Hillewaert, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Platanthera%5Fbifolia%5F%28flower%5Fspike%29.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![A stemless carline thistle - a large stalkless flower head with silvery bracts](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/carlina-acaulis.avif) #### Stemless carline thistle Carlina acaulis A stalkless silvery flower head on the dry grassland. It closes in damp weather and opens in the sun - a living hygrometer. Foto: [Bernd Haynold, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carlina%5Facaulis%5F160907.jpg), [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) - ![A viviparous lizard - a small brown lizard basking on wood](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/zootoca-vivipara.avif) #### Viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara A small brown lizard, most often seen basking by the track. As the name says, it bears live young - an adaptation to colder mountain country. Foto: [Charles J. Sharp, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common%5Flizard%5F%28Zootoca%5Fvivipara%29.jpg), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) - ![A common adder - a snake with a dark zigzag along its back, coiled in the grass](https://d.zpusteven.cz/ccmedia/1280/vipera-berus.avif) #### Common adder Vipera berus The only venomous snake in Czechia; it is known by the dark zigzag along its back. It is shy and will take flight rather than strike. Keep to the track, wear stout footwear, and put no hand into the grass or under stones. If you are bitten, call 155 (or 112). Foto: [Benny Trapp, Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benny%5FTrapp%5FVipera%5Fberus.jpg), [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) The photographs of individual species are taken from Wikimedia Commons (author and licence given with the photo) - they show the species, not a particular plant or animal from Poskla. ## The story of three plots at Poskla The variety of Poskla is no accident. It reflects how each of the three plots was treated - and when that stopped. Water and bedrock ### Why each plot is different The slope below the summit of Poskla stands on **the Godula Palaeogene flysch** - alternating sandstones and clayey beds laid down here by an ancient sea. The clayey beds let no water through. Where the slope is covered by **damp** colluvium, the water stays in the soil permanently. Depending on how waterlogged it is, either a wet meadow or an actual peat bog developed. A little higher, below the crest of a low ridge of resistant sandstone, it is the other way round: **shallow, dry, stony colluvium** that holds neither water nor nutrients for long. The soil is acid and poor, and that is exactly where juniper grows with heather and bilberry. **Three different worlds meet** on one hillside, and that is worth protecting. The end of farming ### Meadow, fodder, pasture - and then nothing **The wet meadow (Poskla I)** was mown once a year until the early 1970s. **The peaty meadow (Poskla II)** gave fodder for livestock until the 1980s. **The third plot** was **the village pasture** until the late 1960s and then lay fallow. Once the farming stopped, the plots became overgrown with self-seeded trees. Conservationists had to come and clear it from 1976 onwards, twelve years before the site was even declared. Without that work the three worlds of Poskla would have met the same fate as the pastures below [Tanečnice](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pod-tanecnici). - **the area of all three plots:** 2.45 ha - **protection declared:** 1988 - **the start of continuous management:** 1994 Care returns ### Mowing comes at the end of summer - and it shows Since 1994 all three plots have been managed continuously: **self-seeded growth is removed and the meadows are mown at the end of summer**. The late mowing is deliberate - it gives the plants time to flower and set seed. **Sheep grazing** has also returned to the juniper slope after decades. Grazing keeps the turf short, which is where juniper and heather hold their own and self-seeded growth has no chance. It is a return to what people did here for generations, only with a different aim: once it was about hay, fodder and meat, now it is about the meadow staying a meadow and the slope a slope. Even so, something has not come back. **Round-leaved sundew** and **common lousewort** were last recorded at the site in the mid-1990s, and their presence has not been confirmed since. Poskla is not alone in losing the sundew - nearby [Kudlačena](https://zpusteven.cz/en/kudlacena) lost it too. In the meadows of [Pod Juráškou](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pod-juraskou), though, mowing and the return of sheep grazing are bringing it back, according to those who manage the site. ![The Poskla nature monument - a meadow on the slope above Hutisko-Solanec](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/poskla/1280/IMG_7198.avif) Mowing and grazing keep the plots open. The plants here would not survive in closed vegetation and under self-seeded growth. Timeline ## From the scythe to protection 1. until the late 1960s ### The village pasture The third plot below the summit of Poskla is **the village pasture**. Juniper survives on it precisely because livestock will not graze it - the needles prick. 2. until the early 1970s ### A meadow mown once a year The wet meadow (Poskla I) is **mown once a year**. The gladiolus and the orchids are a by-product of that farming. 3. 1976 ### The first clearance work Conservationists start coming to the plots to **clear self-seeded woody growth** - twelve years before the site is declared. 4. until the 1980s ### Fodder cut on the peat bog The peaty meadow (Poskla II) **gives fodder for livestock**. Then the farming ends here too. 5. 1988 ### Protection declared A decree of Okresní národní výbor Vsetín of **21 December 1988** creates the protected natural formation Poskla - today a nature monument (ÚSOP code 1520). 6. mid-1990s ### The last sundew **Round-leaved sundew and common lousewort** are recorded in the peat bog for the last time. Their presence has not been confirmed since. 7. 1994 ### Continuous management Regular management of the whole site begins: **clearing self-seeded growth and mowing at the end of summer**. Those who manage the site report a clearly positive effect on rare and endangered species. 8. today ### Mown - and grazed again Three plots covering **2.45 ha**: a wet meadow, a peat bog and a juniper slope. The meadows are mown at the end of summer, and **sheep** have returned to the former pasture. Visit ## Plan your walk to Poskla ### Where exactly it is #### The north slope of the hill Poskla, a kilometre above the village The three plots lie at **495 to 565 m a.s.l.** on the gently inclined north slope of the hill Poskla (576 m a.s.l.), roughly **a kilometre north of the centre of Hutisko-Solanec**. **All three plots lie away from the waymarked walking routes**. ##### Otevřít v mapách [Mapy.com](https://mapy.com/en/zakladni?x=18.2225314&y=49.4368908&z=17&source=coor&id=18.2225314,49.4368908) · [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=49.4368908,18.2225314) The pin points to the protected site, not to one particular plot. ##### Other places nearby [The Charlotta Masaryková memorial](https://zpusteven.cz/charlotte-masaryk-memorial) · [Pod Juráškou](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pod-juraskou) · [Rysová](https://zpusteven.cz/en/rysova) · [The Jurkovič lookout tower](https://zpusteven.cz/en/jurkovicova-rozhledna) · [Kotlová and the settlement of Jezerné](https://zpusteven.cz/en/kotlova) · [The Radegast statue](https://zpusteven.cz/en/socha-radegasta) · [Čarták](https://zpusteven.cz/en/cartak) · [Valašský Slavín and the Church of Saint Anne](https://zpusteven.cz/en/valasske-muzeum-v-prirode/valassky-slavin) Map of the area ### What to know before you go #### How long it takes From the centre of Hutisko-Solanec it is **a kilometre up a gentle slope**. Allow one to two hours to walk round all three plots. #### A protected site Poskla is a **nature monument**. The orchids are protected by law - do not pick them, do not dig them up, do not tread into the vegetation. You can photograph from the track. #### The common adder The drier third plot is home to the **common adder** - venomous, but shy. Keep to the track, put no hand into the grass or under stones, wear stout footwear and keep your dog on a lead. Bites are rare, but if one happens, seek medical help. #### Wet underfoot Two of the three plots are waterlogged. After rain you sink into them; waterproof footwear pays off even in summer. #### Nearest facilities Refreshments and toilets are down in Hutisko-Solanec. Na závěr ## Doplňující info a test znalostí ### Rychlá rekapitulace **What is the Poskla nature monument?** Three separate plots on one hillside (576 m a.s.l.) by Hutisko-Solanec - a wet meadow, a peat bog and a juniper slope, each of them different thanks to different bedrock and a different way of farming. **Why are the three plots of Poskla so unlike each other?** The bedrock decides (moisture, clay), and above all the history of farming - each plot was maintained differently, and that still shows in the species growing on it. **Have the sheep come back to Poskla?** Yes - grazing has returned to the former village pasture (Poskla III). The sheep keep the slope open just as the village livestock once did, so juniper and heather have room and self-seeded growth has no chance. **Can I reach Poskla on a waymarked walking route?** No. All three plots lie away from the waymarked routes - set out from Hutisko-Solanec on local tracks to the north, about a kilometre up the slope. **May I walk into the vegetation at Poskla?** No. The orchids are protected by law and two of the three plots are waterlogged as well - keep to the tracks, pick nothing and stay out of the vegetation. --- Source: [Poskla nature monument | Hutisko-Solanec](https://zpusteven.cz/en/poskla) - zPusteven.cz. When citing, please link to the page.