About 240 million years ago the hill country of the river Weser was covered by a shallow tropic sea. The grey rock layers of the “Muschelkalk” – visible as a result of forest road construction – were deposited during this time. Characteristic for such a shallow sea are the fossilised shells of many marine creatures. With a little bit of luck you might be able to finde witnesses of these prehistoric times.

Today, this small rock formation is a special habitat in the beech forest. The warm stones are often visited by butterflies in order to bask. Due to the absence of soil only very few specialist plants are able to take root: some hawkweeds and white swallow-wort. The latter is the only native representative of the dogbane plant family, which otherwise occurs mainly in the tropics.The small white flowers operate as insect traps. The attractes insects can easily get caught with feet or proboscis. While struggling to free themselves they are covered with pollen, which then is transported to the next plant.