Clusius’ gentian

Huge, azure gentian bells are, alongside edelweiss, the defining flower of the Austrian Alps – and the motif of the 1-euro-cent coin.

Clusius’ gentian is a low perennial whose basal rosette of leathery leaves produces almost stemless, bell-shaped flowers up to 5–6 cm long in an intense deep blue. It flowers from May to August on limestone grassland, mountain pastures and scree, usually from 1,000 to over 2,500 m above sea level. It closely resembles the stemless gentian, which, however, grows on acidic soils. The species is named after Carolus Clusius, the 16th-century botanist who studied the flora of the Austrian Alps.

Significance in the country

Enzian, or gentian, is regarded in Austria as a national flower on a par with edelweiss and features on the 1-euro-cent coin. Carolus Clusius, court botanist to the emperor in Vienna, was one of the first to describe Alpine plants, climbing peaks such as the Ötscher and the Schneeberg.

Where it grows

Throughout Austria’s limestone Alps – from Vorarlberg and Tyrol through Salzburg, Upper Austria and Styria to the Rax, Schneeberg and Ötscher massifs in Lower Austria, as well as the Carinthian Alps.

More: Wikipedia (en)