​The scattering of wild flowers on the bank of the central rock formation in Bellini's St Francis painting, are suggested by the Frick collection New York to be bindweed. I do not believe bindweed is represented in this part of the St Francis painting. These small bell-like flowers are more likely to be Soldanella Minima which I found in a snowy forest following my descent from Passo di Giau in the Province of Belluno. This high mountain pass in the Dolomites connects Cortina d'Ampezzo and Colle Santa Lucia. 

 

T​he flower is fringed slightly at the edge of the form  and can be white or pale lilac-blue with violet streaks inside (cite: http://encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/Soldanella/minima) Very often, they grown in woods, damp pastures and rocky landscapes from 500-3,000 m above sea level, often in hollows which hold snow into late spring and early summer (cite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldanella)​ In Italian 'Soldanella' translates as 'Little Coins'. The botanical name dates from the 16th Century and comes from Italian 'soldo' which was a type of coin (from medieval Latin soldanus, a certain type of coin). This must refer not so much to the flower but the leaves of the Soldanella which are almost circular and the size of a coin. 

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The size, delicacy, colour and context of the flowers Bellini desribes growing in the landsacpe above the central rock formation, certainly seems to suggest a knowledge or perhaps direct oberservation of Soldanella Minima. 

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