Insect Pollination of Frasera stenosepala

Abstract

One of the largest of herbaceous plants growing at Tolland, Colorado, 9,000 feet above sea level, is the green gentian, Frasera stenosepala. A rosette of basal leaves gives rise to a coarse stalk, three to four feet high, with whorls of large leaves and a leafy panicle of rather large flowers of a light green color. Singularly the color is about as inconspicuous as can be imagined. The flowers are rendered rather noticeable by the size and isolation of the plants, but much less so by color. Yet it appeared to surpass all other flowers of the region in the number and variety of insect visitors. The yellow Thermopsis divaricata or mountain pea is abundant where Frasera grows. It has a color that renders it visible at a much greater distance than is Frasera, yet it is much less frequently visited by insects

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