Tag Archives: gentian

I just can’t stop with the gentians!  After my fun hike last weekend in the Never Summer Wilderness (with the black bear sighting and all of those pretty purple gentians), I returned to that part of Colorado today for another trek in the mountains.  This time, I traveled a bit farther south–on the eastern edge of Routt National Forest–with a climb of Farview Mountain that put me on the western edge of the Never Summer Wilderness with views into Rocky Mountain National Park.  And above treeline on that mountainside?  Perennial fringed gentian, Gentianopsis barbellata.

This wildflower is somewhat similar to Rocky Mountain fringed gentian (Gentianopsis thermalis), with the blueish purple coloring and the petal fringe.  But while G. thermalis is a dainty, lovely, spiralled flower that elegantly fills moist meadows or decorates the edges of mountain streambanks, G. barbellata is a wild and crazy thang of the drier, alpine slopes.  This species is also known as twisted gentian, and for once that’s a common name that sounds pretty accurate.

I have only encountered this species in north central Colorado, though the internet suggests that I might be able to find in in the Snowy Range here in SE Wyoming.  I’m not sure about trusting the USDA plants database for this one, though, because they do not have it as being present in Jackson or Grand Counties of CO, which are the two places I know I that I have found it!  I can’t imagine what other species this funky flower could be–it fulfills both the twisted and the fringed requirements–and if you look elsewhere, on an excellent website, the correct counties are shaded.  I will chalk it up to government a mistake or oversight and assume my ID is the right one!

While I’m on the subject of lovely purple gentians, Rocky Mountain fringed gentian, Gentianopsis thermalis, is another gorgeous gentian species showing its fizzy face this time of year.  This gentian has petals that form pretty swirls.  I often come across this species in the wilderness areas of north-central Colorado.

According to wildflower.org, “This genus differs from Gentiana by the absence of pleats between the corolla lobes. This species is sometimes combined with the more northerly G. detonsa [the windmill fringed gentian of Canada] into one large, very variable, wide-ranging species. [Rocky Mountain fringed gentian] was named thermalis after the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park where it is the park flower.”  The U.S. Forest Service writes that Gentianopsis simply means ‘Gentiana-like’.

Also referred to as western fringed gentian or meadow fringed gentian, this flower likes very moist areas and can be most often found in boggy open spaces at subalpine elevations.  Lucky hikers may spot a meadow or snow-melt gully filled with these twisty purple blossoms.

The first special find I encountered on my return to Wyoming was a meadow in the national forest east of Laramie blooming with Parry’s gentian, Gentiana parryi.  This gentain is a lovely purple surprise, often hidden in the grass.  Easily overlooked when the buds are tightly closed, once the blossoms open, they are a visual treat.

Parry’s gentian can also be called bottle gentian or mountain gentian, but I have also seen those common names applied to other species. (Gentiana clausa and Gentiana andrewsii–neither of which are found in Wyoming can both be called bottle gentian).  Other, better common names for G. parryi are blue gentian, pleated gentian and puff gentian.  The old scientific name was Pneumonanthe parryi.

Most gentians seem to be August bloomers, showing up after the peak of wildflower variety has ended, but they can really be found anytime from July through September.

I think that Parry’s gentian looks remarkably similar to Rainier pleated gentian, Gentiana calycosa (also called mountain bog or explorer’s gentian — see the picture on the lower right), but according to the USDA plants database, G. parryi can be found in Colorado and SE Wyoming while G. calycosa blooms in NW Wyoming and states farther to the northwest.  Both are beautiful!