Silene acaulis (occurring down to ). Between , Humboldt noted the following species of flowering plants amongst rocky debris around permanent snow fields and the highest alpine glaciers: ; Achillea atrata; Gentiana nivalis; Juncus trifidus; Ranunculus glacialis; and Saxifraga oppositifolia. In the mid-1800s, Venance Payot, a Chamonix naturalist, published a number of articles on the flora around the Mont Blanc area, including a list of the flowering plants, ferns mosses and lichens found at les Grands Mulets and elsewhere in the massif around Chamonix and the Aosta Valley. High up in the middle of the Glacier de Talèfre, completely surrounded by ice, and due south of Les Droites, lies a large triangular region of steep mountainside containing an unusual mixture of high-alpine vegetation. Known as the Jardin de Talèfre, its name derives from the rich assemblage of plants which occur at great altitude there (between ). Described as "one of the loftiest patches of vegetation in Europe upon an islet of rock in the midst of a wilderness of snow and ice", it is higher than the adjacent ground by tens of metres and, as a result, was spared glacial scouring and subsequent loss of its vegetation during the Little Ice Age (between 1300 and 1850). Nevertheless, it would at that time still have been surrounded by ice on all three sides, as evidenced by the three glacial moraines found there today. Species recorded there include: Achillea nana; Alchemilla pentaphylla; ; Arenaria serpyllifolia; Cardamine alpina; Draba frigida; Empetrum nigrum; Epilobium alpinum; ; Homogyne alpina; Jacobaea incana; Juncus trifidus; Kalmia procumbens; ; ; Ranunculus glacialis; ; Saxifraga aspera; Saxifraga bryoides; Saxifraga oppositifolia; ; Sibbaldia procumbens and Trifolium alpinum. The Saussurea Alpine Botanical Garden above Courmayeur is located at above sea level, and is the highest botanical garden in Europe. It contains around 800 plant species and covers an area of . It was originally created in 1987 just as a tourist attraction but, with the subsequent designation of the adjacent Pavillon du Mont Frety as a protected area, it has since increased in scientific importance. It can be reached either from the mid-way station of the Skyway Monte Bianco, or on foot from La Palud within two hours and an ascent of . The botanical garden derives its name from the genus of mountain flowers, Saussurea (Saw-worts) which itself was named after Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, whose enthusiasm for scientific research in