Comastoma tenellum

Samiland gentian, Samiland Gentian

Family: Gentianaceae · Type: annual · Native

Samiland gentian is a California native annual found in the central Sierra Nevada and White and Inyo Mountains in open, wet places at elevations of 3,200 to 3,900 meters. Flowering from July to August, this delicate plant produces pale violet-blue to white flowers 6 to 17 millimeters long with ovate-oblong lobes. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 15 centimeters tall, sometimes branching near the base and forming up to 25 stems. Its leaves are predominantly basal, elliptic-oblong to spoon-shaped and less than 20 millimeters long, with 1 to 4 pairs of smaller cauline leaves. The plant's diminutive size and delicate flowers make it a subtle but charming component of high-elevation alpine meadows.

Habitat: Open, wet places

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 3200-3900 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNH, W&ampI

California counties: Inyo, Tulare, Mono, Tuolumne

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.