Clusters of up to 15 blue, bell-shaped flowers nod on slender, branching stems that reach 2-feet tall. The eye-catching flowers grow along shady trails and often in large colonies in mountain meadows. Note the sepals beneath the flower do not reach the cut in the petal lobes.

FLOWERS: June-September. Blue to violet, bell-shaped, 3/4–1 1/4-inches long (19–31 mm), nodding, multiple flowers per stem, petals joined at base forming a cup with 5 pointed petal-like lobes about a third the length of the flower; 5 narrow sepals under the petals don’t reach the cut in the lobes.

LEAVES: Basal leaves rounded, 3/16–1 1/2-inch long (5–40 mm) with conspicuous stems (petioles); wither by blooming; Stem leaves alternate, grass-like reaching 4-inches long (10 cm), 1/8-inch wide (3 mm).

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly, limestone, volcanic soils, slopes, meadows, stream banks; pinion-juniper, ponderosa-oak, fir-aspen.

ELEVATION: 5,800–12,800 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, TX, UT; northern states WA to ME.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Perry’s Bellflower, C. parryi,  in the same range and habitat, has erect flowers with long, slender sepals that reach and often extend beyond the junction of the petal lobes, which are cut about 1/2 the length of the flower.

NM COUNTIES: Mountains of NM in mid- to high-elevation moist habitats:  Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Grant, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe, San Juan, San Miguel, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union.