Bluebells on high

Mertensia lanceolata, June 16, 2023

Common & scientific name

Alpine bluebells, Mertensia lanceolata

Family

Borage, Boraginaceae

Location

Blue Lake area, 12,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

These are not the bluebells of Scottish fame (those are harebells, in their own Bellflower family), but our Mertensias grace our slopes from the valley floor in spring (M. fusiformis) to the alpine (here) and at all elevations near water in their largest form (M. ciliata).

Mt. Massive, 13,500’, July 4, 2023