#gentianopsis

[thelethalsilence]

[cactanna]

Thou waitest late and com’st alone,

When woods are bare and birds are flown,

And frosts and shortening days portend

The aged year is near his end.

Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye

Look through its fringes to the sky,

Blue-blue-as if that sky let fall

A flower from its cerulean wall.

So writes poet William Cullen Bryant of the rare northeastern biennial, the Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis crinata). This small, fall-blooming plant is a poor competitor with aggressive and woody plants; it needs the full sun and open space of wet meadows to thrive. Each plant only produces a single flower stalk during its second year of growth. Honeybees and Bumblebees have been its observed pollinators, though other insect visitors are not ruled out. Fringed Gentians are threatened both by habitat loss and natural succession; meadows are transitional habitats that tend to be colonized by larger woody shrubs and trees, shading out existing species. My camera cannot capture just how blue they are— one of the most striking wildflowers I’ve ever seen. I hope you’re lucky enough to see one in person!

[cedar-glade]

Although, we don’t think about sand as a location that can retain moisture, the vegetation and leeching of sand and the fact that the water table in some interdunal wetlands is close to the surface gives some of the sand near the organic horizon a slightly less ericaceous definition overall when compared to the more mobile sands. In these undisturbed locations some of the classics among the late wet prairie forbes can really thrive under even a sandy substrate. 

Gentiana andrewsii and Gentianopsis crinita are notable examples of this.

[cunttrol]

I just got my nails done and had to sit next to this white mid 30 year old mom of 2 for an hour. she and her 3 year of daughter that goes to a pre school academy are both being Elsa for Halloween. the moms in her neighborhood are handing out wine to the adults (so funny, Susan). they just got back from Disneyland a week ago. she puts her kids to bed at 7:30 every night, then has a glass of red wine to "wind down". gets up at 7 every morning. her son in elementary school has soccer practice before trick or treating tonight. and she is handing out yogurt covered raisins to kids tonight because they are only $1.50 at Safeway

[ericbakken242]

Gentianopsis procera - Stearns Co., MN

[cunttrol]

Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco 🌿