Mt Nebo Scenic Byway (Nebo Loop)
Courtesy US Forest Service, Teresa Prendusi, Photographer
Green Gentian, Frasera speciosa Stalk, Courtesy USDA Forest Service, S Olson, PhotographerThere is another monument found in the plant kingdom that towers above all others on our mountains and plateaus., frasera speciosa or green gentian. Upon first seeing this lofty flower, my senses were startled by its monumental size. On closer inspection, there were multitudes of exquisite blossoms adorning its tall stalk, with cream colors flowing into delicate green tips, with purple dots sprinkled throughout. The sepals, pistils, and stamens are no less striking. I stood in awe of this monumental beauty.
Over the years since my first introduction, I became intrigued with its remarkable life history, spending up to 80 years as an inconspicuous rosette of leaves, referred to as elkweed. Then, in its final year of life, it launches itself into a burst of glory, shooting up a tall stalk garnered with stunning flowers.
Given the size of its flowering stalk, it’s not surprising that a green gentian produces a large number of seeds. An average stalk is composed of 600 flowers and is capable of producing 66,000 seeds. When the plant dies, its leaves fall to the ground and decomposes, fertilizing nearby seeds, doubling its germination and survival chances compared with seeds dispersed further from the plant.
When a green gentian flowers, some of its offspring will flower in 20 years, while others will wait 60 or more years. Montane and subalpine environments are highly variable, with precipitation, temperature, damaging frost events, pollinator populations, thus germination and seedling survival vary unpredictably. It appears that for a plant that will flower only once, having offspring flower from 20 to 80 years is a way of hedging its bets in an unpredictable environment.
Research has revealed much about this fascinating and conspicuous wildflower, but it also demonstrates a fundamental fact in ecology. Long-term studies are necessary to identify some phenomena, such as synchronous and monocarpic-that is, dying after flowering-by Jeff Minton, a researcher.
Green gentian has been used by multiple Native American tribes for a wide range of medicinal purposes, with documented applications spanning from sedative and digestive treatments to veterinary remedies, the plant’s fleshy root was eaten by indigenous peoples as well, although considered too bitter by the untrained palate.
Parts of the Colorado Rockies are experiencing a super bloom of green gentian this year, which is interesting considering it’s been a record hot and dry winter-spring season. Many mysteries yet remain for this monument of nature.
This is Jack Green for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I’m Wild About Nature’s Monuments.
Credits:
Images Courtesy USDA Forest Service, Teresa Prendusi and S Olson, Photographers
Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections and Anderson, Howe and Wakeman
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, and Jack Greene, Author, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading:
Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/
Gentian Family, Yellowstone’s Photo Collection, Yellowstone National Park, US National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/plants/gentianfamily/Page.htm
Utah Rare Plant Guide, Utah Rare Plants, Utah Native Plant Society, https://www.utahrareplants.org/rpg_species.html (search lower on the page for “Frasera” or “Green Gentian”.)
Footer, Tracey, A Sight for the Ages: Frasera speciosa is on Display in the Northern Wasatch Canyons!, Utah Native Plant Society, https://www.unps.org/segolily/Sego2023Summer.pdf
Green Gentian, Utah Species of Greatest Conservation Need (2025), Fieldguide, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/wap/2025-12-sgcn-list.pdf
By County List: https://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/wap/2025-12-sgcn-list-county.pdf
Rascoe, Ayesha, A rare flower is in a superbloom in the Rocky Mountains, Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR,
July 5, https://www.npr.org/2026/07/05/nx-s1-5877757/a-rare-flower-is-in-a-superbloom-in-the-rocky-mountains
Frasera speciosa – Green Gentian/Elk Weed/Monument Plant, First Nature, Wales, UK, https://www.first-nature.com/flowers/frasera-speciosa.php
