Stout, unbranching stems 4–18 inches tall are lined with purple star-like flowers, and form colonies in lush, wet, mountain areas. Note the large basal leaves and smaller, opposite stem leaves, and the flowers are not tubular.

FLOWER: July–September. Purple flowers opening to 1 inch wide (25 mm) have 4 or 5 narrow, petal-like lobes separated to the base (not tubular), and streaked with dark veins; the two dark nectar pits at the base of each petal are often fringed with short hairs; slender, green sepals show between the petals; the prominent stamens are purple; pistil is swollen and tipped with a pointed style.

LEAVES: Basal, with stems (petioles) equal to or longer than the blade; blade elliptic to oval, 2 3/4–4 inches long (7–10 cm). Stem leaves opposite, lance-shaped, stemless, well-separated along the stem, much smaller than basal leaves.

HABITAT: Wet soil; bogs, marshy areas, stream sides, wet meadows and hillsides; montane, spruce-fir forests, alpine meadows.

ELEVATION: 8,000–11,800 feet.

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

SIMILAR SPECIES: The dark-purple flowers with narrow, separate, spreading lobes (not united into a tube with lobes), and large basal leaves help distinguish this from other mountain species in the Gentian family.

NM COUNTIES: High mountains of northern NM and Chaves County in high-elevation, wet habitats: Chaves, Colfax, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Sandoval, Taos.