Flower Photos from the CDTrail area

Thanks to Nina Smart, we have an answer to my flower question.

That bright blue flower belongs to the Gentian group and is that groups most intense color.

It has two common names:  Parry Gentian and Mountain Gentian.  We caught this one on a good day, with no rain.  When it rains, it closes up and the outside color of the petals is dark greenish-white, so is inconspicuous.  This one was not at all inconspicuous!

For you historians, this gentian has a relative with a famous name (he almost became President):

Fremont Gentian.  It has white flower of smaller size, narrower tubular shape and lives in moist sub-alpine areas. We probably saw some.  

John C. Fremont collected it somewhere in the West in 1842-43. A few years later, he came back to our home territory and got stuck in the snow up near Pool Table Mountain. He made Christmas Camp in deep snow, then came down Embargo Creek with his crew and all but one went South to Taos to recuperate, some of them at Kit Carson's house.

(In 1856, Fremont ran for President against James Buchanan. Some historians say he lost because he opposed slavery, while Buchanan remained neutral on that question.)

Thanks for joining us Nina.  You are welcome at any time. —DMK