Eritrichium nanum

Eritrichium nanum, the arctic alpine forget-me-not or king-of-the-Alps, is a circumpolar alpine cushion plant which occurs in the European Alps and the North American Rocky Mountains.

Description

This cushion plant grows up to tall. It forms tufts of lanceolate leaves up to long. Blooming from June to August, the deep blue corollas are five-lobed and funnel-shaped; five yellow pads surround the inner tube opening. The fruit is divided into four nutlets.

Eritrichium howardii is similar, but has hairs dense enough to cover the leaves.

The plant occurs in the European Alps and western North America from Alaska and along the Rocky Mountains to Oregon, Montana and New Mexico. It grows at elevations of 10,000 feet in an environment of acid rocks, snow gullies and receding glaciers.