Gentianopsis simplex

Hikers' gentian, Hikers' Gentian

Family: Gentianaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Hikers' gentian is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and San Bernardino Mountains in wet meadows at elevations of 1,200 to 3,400 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces delicate blue to purple flowers with slender petals 17 to 45 millimeters long. Growing with well-separated erect stems 4 to 40 centimeters tall, it emerges from root-sprouts with distinctive sparse growth. Its leaves are uniquely shaped, with lower cauline leaves less than 20 millimeters long and spoon-shaped, while upper cauline leaves are lance-elliptic and obtuse to acute. The plant produces striate-ridged seeds with pointed tips, characteristic of its gentian family.

Habitat: Wet meadows

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: 1200-3400 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, SnBr

California counties: Butte, Mono, Fresno, Tulare, San Bernardino, El Dorado, Amador, Siskiyou, Madera, Alpine, Tehama, Trinity, Plumas, Lassen, Sierra, Nevada, Calaveras, Shasta, Humboldt, Placer, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Kern, Modoc, Inyo

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