Gentiana sceptrum

King's scepter gentian

Family: Gentianaceae · Type: perennial · Native

King's scepter gentian is a California native perennial found in northern coastal and northern coastal range outer coast bioregions in bogs and wet meadows at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces striking blue flowers with ovate-oblong lobes 5 to 10 millimeters long in small clusters. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 5 to 90 centimeters tall, it emerges from a distinct caudex with multiple stems. Its cauline leaves are elliptic to narrow-ovate, 10 to 55 millimeters long, with lower leaves more crowded and upper leaves positioned along shorter internodes. The plant produces distinctive seed capsules that are winged toward the ends, adding to its unique alpine meadow character.

Habitat: Bogs, wet meadows

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO

California counties: Humboldt, Sonoma, Mendocino, Del Norte, San Luis Obispo

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