The hunt for <i>Scabiosa trenta</i> Hacq: how the pursuit of a phantom ignited a passion for botany and mountaineering

Scabiosa trenta Hacq. was first described in 1782 by Balthasar Hacquet, with its specific epithet referring to the Trenta Valley in Slovenia. Since then, S. trenta has been the focus of numerous mountaineering and botanical expeditions, particularly by the alpinist Julius Kugy during the Golden Age of Alpinism, a period in the second half of 19th century in which climbers explored remote mountain areas solely with the use of rudimentary equipment. The ‘hunt' for S. trenta began in 1877 when Kugy was 19, sparking his lifelong passion for botany and alpinism. Among his companions was Albert Bois de Chesne, who founded the Juliana Alpine Botanical Garden in 1926, a key facility for plant conservation and natural science communication in the Julian Alps. However, despite extensive efforts of many botanists, the species has never been located. Having examined Hacquet's herbarium specimen, currently stored in the Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Anton Kerner von Marilaun proposed in 1893 that S. trenta was not a distinct species but an ecotype of Cephalaria leucantha (L.) Roem. &amp; Schult., otherwise typically found at lower elevations. Over time, the taxonomic inaccuracy that caused the publication of S. trenta ignited the interest in botany in many explorers and mountaineers. This species became a symbol of the unreachable in Slovenian folklore, inspiring studies on the alpine flora.