Native Blooms

From our walk yesterday we found some Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) also known as the closed bottle gentian.  This native wildflower is characterized by its blue-to-purple blooms that never actually open.  This unusual feature serves as a barrier to keep out smaller, nectar-seeking insects.

Because the flowers remain sealed the plant relies almost exclusively on larger bumble bees for pollination.  Bumble bees are big and strong enough to force the petals apart and crawl inside.

As a reward for this herculean effort the reward is the high sugar (40% to 45%) content nectar.  Thank of it like a high-energy soft drink for the bumble bee.

An additional trait is visual signaling.  Flowers with white tips signal that nectar is available while blooms that have transitioned to pink or purple signal that a bee has already paid a call and exhausted the nectar within.

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