The Flowering

A phenomenon tied to the lentil

The Castelluccio Flowering is not a spontaneous natural event; it is a side effect of farming. The farmers of Castelluccio have grown the Lenticchia di Castelluccio IGP for at least 700 years using a crop-rotation technique that leaves the fields fallow for one or two seasons between one sowing and the next. In the fallow fields, wild species flourish alongside the flowers of the lentil itself, creating the mosaic of colour we see.

This means two important things. First, the flowering is different every year: the fallow fields change, the dominant species change, the colour patterns change. Second, the flowering depends on the farmers: without lentil cultivation the phenomenon as we know it would not exist. The 2016 earthquake and the depopulation that followed have put this practice at risk.

The Lenticchia di Castelluccio IGP

The Lenticchia di Castelluccio di Norcia IGP (Lens culinaris) is a pulse protected by PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status since 1997 (EC Reg. no. 1065/97, now overseen by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture). Its cultivation is limited to the Piani di Castelluccio plateau (Pian Grande, Pian Perduto, Pian Piccolo), above 1,350 metres of altitude.

Distinctive features compared with other lentils:

• Small size: 4–8 mm across, against the 6–9 mm of the common lentil
• Thin skin: no soaking needed before cooking
• Quick cooking: 25–30 minutes against the 60+ of standard lentils
• Natural range of colour: green, brown, pinkish, sometimes mottled (depending on the soil)
• Taste: sweet, slightly grassy, holds its shape when cooked

The lentil blooms in mid-June: white corollas streaked with violet, 15–25 cm tall. When the flowers cover a field, the dominant colour is a soft violet-white that shifts in tone with the sunlight.

Why here and nowhere else

Four conditions make the Pian Grande unique:

1. Altitude: 1,300–1,500 m. High enough for cold nights even in June (essential for synchronised flowering), low enough to allow farming
2. Karst geology: the plateau is an ancient lake basin; the soil is rich in humus and free-draining
3. Extent: 15 km² of flat, cultivable land, extremely rare in the Apennines
4. Farming tradition: lentil cultivation with crop rotation is documented from the 14th century and has been kept up without interruption to this day

What threatens the flowering

Three factors put the flowering at risk in the coming years:

• Depopulation: after the 2016 earthquake, fewer than half of the roughly 50 long-standing lentil growers are still active
• Climate change: earlier flowerings and extreme weather events (hail, drought) are altering the seasonal calendar
• Overtourism: the influx of 20,000+ visitors in two days, before the access rules, caused trampling of the fields, damage to the crops and heat dispersal

The system of regulated shuttles in place since 2017 is one of the answers to the last point. Visiting the flowering while respecting the rules — not walking in the fields, not picking flowers, parking only in the authorised areas — is an act of support for the survival of the phenomenon.

How to photograph the flowering

• Morning golden hour: the flowers are fresh, the light is warm, the fields are fragrant. From 6 to 8 am
• Panoramic spot: the road climbing from Forca di Presta towards Monte Vettore offers the widest view over the Pian Grande
• No drones without the National Park's permission: the area is a protected zone
• No trampling: photograph from the paths and roads, never inside the cultivated fields