The Alpine region around Zermatt is an isolated ecosystem which boasts no less than seven endemic plants which are found nowhere else in the world. When the ice sheets retreated after the last Ice Age the species which had migrated to the Zermatt area were isolated from their Arctic origins.Zermatt’s mountains are an important Alpine flora region because of its biodiversity which has survived thanks to a unique combination of a dry climate, the highest tree line in the Alps, plus a large variety of soil conditions. Some wildflowers are closely associated with the rock conditions – edelweiss thrive on chalky soil, while amica sprouts on silica-rich, acid soils.