King Scepter Gentian Seeds (Gentiana sceptrum)

With deep, inky blue-purple flowers, this is a wildflower of ridiculous beauty. Moreover, it’s a fascinating bumble bee pollinated plant with blossoms that scarcely open enough to allow for passage. Rather, foraging bumble bees must pry themselves inside to access the rich floral rewards within.

This is solidly a  plant of wet meadows, usually found at low elevations, especially in coastal rainforest lakeshores and wetlands.And while uncommon, this exquisite plant can spread to form incredible masses of plants under optimal conditions.

We think gentians are uncomparable for their floral beauty. In Japan similar looking gentians show up in ikebana floral arrangements. In alpine Europe the roots of this genus are used to produce a distilled liquor.

King scepter is possibly the tallest of the gentians, sometimes approaching a meter in height. This is not an easy plant to get started, but seeds should never be buried, and they need extensive cycles of cold, wet weather to germinate. Probably not a seed to try if you are expecting guaranteed results.

0.1 grams (300-500 tiny, dust-like seeds)