Frasera speciosa

Monument plant

Family: Gentianaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Monument plant is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California coastal ranges, southern Sierra Nevada, and Warner Mountains in montane meadows and open woodland at elevations of 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces light yellow-green flowers with distinctive purple dots and streaks, forming elongate inflorescences with large blossoms 12 to 20 millimeters long. Growing 7 to 20 decimeters tall with an erect, glabrous stem, it develops in a single unbranched form. Its basal leaves are large and distinctive, measuring 7 to 50 centimeters long and 1 to 15 centimeters wide, with an oblanceolate to elliptic-obovate shape and rounded to acute tips. The plant's cauline leaves are whorled and lance-oblong, with acute tips that add to its architectural presence in montane habitats.

Habitat: Montane meadows, open woodland

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1500-3000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, SNH, Wrn

California counties: Mariposa, Fresno, Tuolumne, Mono, Tehama, Trinity, Mendocino, Inyo, Siskiyou, Tulare, Modoc, Alpine, El Dorado, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Amador, Lake

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