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Shikotsu-Tōya NP., Hokkaido
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From early July to early August, more than 100 alpine plant species bloom above 1,700 m on Yotei. The whole floral rush happens in a short summer window high on the mountain.
Yotei’s alpine plant belt became a national Natural Monument on March 3, 1921. The official record highlights its regional flora, especially striking stands of Ezo-no-tsugazakura and iwaicho.
At Yotei’s summit, some alpine plants reach the northern edge of their range, while others reach the southern edge. It is a remarkable mix of range-edge species on one Hokkaido mountain.
Even within the alpine zone, the ground shapes the flower show: iwabukuro and meakan-kinbai grow on gravel, iwaume and lingonberry on exposed rock, and miyama-kinbai and chishima-furo in snowbeds.
Yotei’s vegetation changes as you climb: broadleaf forest below 700 m gives way to spruce–birch, then bamboo–birch. Above 1,500 m, dwarf pine and lingonberry dominate; wind-scoured summit ground becomes grassland.
In 1912, botanist Shozo Nishida counted 265 plant species on Mt. Makkari-nupuri: 230 flowering plants and 35 non-flowering species. His inventory covered the mountain’s flora, not just its alpine belt.
Komakusa is celebrated as the “queen of alpine flowers,” but it isn’t native to Yotei; people introduced it. In 2023, the 13th year of removal work, a team pulled 10 plants near the 9th station.
