Flowers of the Alps

Trumpet Gentian

Stengelloser Enzian
Gentiana acaulis

Photo taken on Kreuzjoch, Stubai Alps, at 2000m by Allan Hartley

Trumpet gentians (Gentiana acaulis) are endemic to Europe ad can be found at 1150-2400m from the Pennines to the Balkans. (Similar species can be found in many other parts of the world). The leaves are evergreen and grow in a rosette. They thrive in sunny acidic locations. ln late spring and summer the brilliant blue, trumpet-shaped flowers appear on a very short stem. (Strengelloser = stemless); sometimes there is a longitudinal olive green stripe. In most countries it is a protected plant, being classified on the IUCN Red List as extinct in the Czech Republic, critically endangered in Bulgaria and vulnerable in Germany. The root has medicinal uses for dyspepsia and gastro-enteritis.

Return to the top of this page, or to the complete Index, or to this section's Index.