Bottle Gentian

Flowers that never open may appear to be self-defeating. Yet bottle gentians thrive.

Bumblebees and carpenter bees are strong enough to force their way inside the closed flowers.

Inside the flowers is a bountiful store of nectar and pollen.

Consequently, the big bees tend to favor bottle gentians where they are available.

Moving from one closed flower to another, they often haul along a good deal of bottle gentian pollen.

Chances of cross pollination, with resulting genetic vigor, are improved by the bottle gentian's strategy.

Both the bumblebees and the bottle gentians benefit. One is fed. The other is well-bred.

Scientifically, that is a form of symbiosis called mutualism.

Gentiana andrewsii blooms from August through October on stream banks and at the edges of woodlands.

The porcelain blue flowers are typically about two inches long. They appear in tight clusters atop plants that are typically two feet high. Below them are paired, lance-shaped leaves.

They range from Maine to New York, south to New Jersey and through North Carolina. The bottle gentians pictured on this page were photographed in Moore County, N.C., by the late Claude Rankin of Fayetteville, N.C.

Taxonomic Classification

• Superdivision: Spermatophyta (seed plants)
• Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants)
• Class: Magnoliopsida (primitive flowering plants)
• Subclass: Asteridae
• Order: Gentianales
• Family: Gentianaceae (gentian family)
• Genus: Gentiana (gentian)
• Species: Gentiana andrewsii (closed bottle gentian)

References

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants bottle gentian page.

National Wildlife Federation's bottle gentian page.