The Alpine gentian is a perennial herb that grows to only Шаблон:Convert. The opposite leaves are crowded at the base of the stem . The simple leaf blade is about Шаблон:Convert long and nearly circular. The leaf margins are cartilaginous.
The flowers are individually terminal on the stems. The hermaphrodite flowers are radially symmetric with a double perianth. The five green sepals are fused up to about half their length into a calyx tube, which ends in five ovoid calyx teeth that narrow towards the base. The dark blue crown is an inverted cone with a length of Шаблон:Convert. There are green dots in the crown gullet, the crown lobes are blunt and mostly rounded. G. alpina takes a hemicryptophytic form.
Occurrence
Gentiana alpina is found in the south-west and west of the Middle Alps, the Middle Pyrenees and in the Sierra Nevada of southern Spain. It avoids growing in limestone rocks, and grows at elevations of Шаблон:Convert. In the Alps, G. alpina typically occur in the Caricion curvulae plant association.[2]
In popular culture
Adolf von Kleebsattel created the song „Blau blüht der Enzian“, which became a bestseller thanks to performances by the musician Heino. The song provided the title of a feature film: Blue Blooms the Gentian.
