This dainty bell-shaped flower hides in the grass of mountain meadows and stream banks. The blue to violet flowers stand erect, rarely nodding, on the ends of the short stems. Note the sepals reach the junction of the petal lobes.

FLOWERS: July-September. Blue to violet, cup-shaped, 3/8–5/8-inch long (9–15 mm), with spreading petals, erect on stem (not drooping); petals joined at base forming a cup with 5 pointed lobes about half the length of the flower; five narrow sepals under the petals extend forward to the cut in the petal lobes.

LEAVES: Basal leaves elliptic to lance-shaped, 1/4–1 1/4 inches long (7–30 mm). Mid-stem leaves alternate, narrow, 3/4–2 inches long (2-5 cm), sometimes with small teeth.

HABITAT: Gravelly, sandy, clay soils, meadows, stream banks, openings, roadsides; ponderosa–Douglas fir, aspen-fir.

ELEVATION: 7,600–12,700 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, UT, WA, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Harebell, C. rotundifolia, in the same range and habitat, has multiple nodding flowers per stem and short sepals that don’t reach the junction of the petal lobes.

NW COUNTIES: Western and northern mountains in mid- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Cibola, Catron, Colfax, Grant, McKinley, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Sierra, Taos..