Gentiana lutea Great Yellow Gentian
This is such a famous alpine plant that it was one I was really looking forward to finding. Imagine my surprise when we eventually found one, that it was nearly three feet tall, had thick leaves like a cabbage and that the large yellow flower clusters were covered in black flies. Anything less like the usual gentians would be hard to imagine. I wasn't sure whether to photograph or take it back for cooking.
The local blue gentians Gentiana bavarica or Gentiana brachyphylla are small, refined, delicate plants and even the larger Trumpet gentians like Gentiana acaulis are tiny beside this monster.
Cooking it isn't so far off either as it is used in making beer and it has long been known that the roots have medicinal properties.
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| Gentiana lutea Great Yellow Gentian |
Slopes of Val de Fain, Engadine, Switzerland 6th July 2010
Added on 16th July 2010