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Gentiana parryi.
Synonym: Pneumonanthe parryi. (Mountain
Gentian) Gentianaceae (Gentian Family) Subalpine,
alpine. Meadows, openings. Summer, fall. Mountain Gentian is found scattered in meadows where it pokes out of grasses with its brilliant blue/purple flower. The five petals are separated by unusual, slightly toothed projections. Plants range from a few inches tall on alpine tundra to eighteen inches tall on richer soils in subalpine meadows. Flower petals may be rounded or pointed. Sunshine opens the tightly closed flower wide and deep, giving it a second common name, "Bottle Gentian". "Pneumo" is Greek for "the wind" or "lungs" and "anthus" is Greek for "flower". Nineteenth century botanist Charles Parry made the first collection of this plant in Colorado in 1862 and George Engelmann named the plant Gentiana parryi in 1863. Edward Greene renamed the plant Pneumonanthe parryi in 1904. Parry is honored in the names of dozens of plants. (Click for more biographical information about Parry.) |
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Gentiana parryi. Synonym: Pneumonanthe parryi. (Mountain
Gentian) Gentianaceae (Gentian Family) Subalpine,
alpine. Meadows, openings. Summer, fall. | |
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Gentiana parryi. Synonym: Pneumonanthe parryi. (Mountain
Gentian) Gentianaceae (Gentian Family) Subalpine,
alpine. Meadows, openings. Summer, fall. Gentiana parryi flower color is very consistently blue/purple, so we were pleasantly surprised to find this lovely lilac flower along the Navajo Lake Trail. | |
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Gentiana parryi. Synonym: Pneumonanthe parryi. (Mountain
Gentian) Gentianaceae (Gentian Family) Subalpine,
alpine. Meadows, openings. Summer, fall. Flowers are in terminal clusters, usually in groups of three-to-five, and are subtended by the leaf-like bracts which enclosed them in bud stage. (One bud enclosed in bracts can be seen poking up from behind the flower at right in the top photograph.) The second from the bottom photograph takes a peek at the lovely spotting of the interior that surrounds the pistil and stamens. The final photograph shows that it pays to look at flowers even when they appear withered. I peeled open the withered flower which looked like the strip at far left in the last photograph. I found that the interior surface of the withered flower petals was still colorful and surrounded a large, ripening seed, which was also surrounded by the still-evident stamens. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Gentiana parryi |