Gentiana lutea

Gentiana lutea, the great yellow gentian, is a tall perennial plant forming an erect tuft, with fleshy roots. It produces a basal rosette of blue-green foliage. From June to August, tall stems rise from the foliage, carrying clusters of yellow star-shaped flowers. An imposing plant from the mountains to invite into the garden!

Gentiana lutea is a botanical species native to the mountains of the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Apennines, and the Carpathians. It belongs to the Gentianaceae family. A robust herbaceous perennial, it forms an upright tuft, with a long fleshy root. Its tall size makes it the largest of its genus. It easily reaches 1.2m (4ft), even up to 2m (7ft), in height, with a width of 60cm (24in). Its deciduous blue-green foliage consists of large basal leaves, measuring 20 to 30cm (8 to 12in). They are ovate with prominent veins. From this rosette rise long erect, unbranched stems, bearing embracing leaves, arranged in pairs. Between June and August, clusters of 3 to 10 yellow star-shaped flowers, measuring 3 to 4cm (1 to 2in) in diameter, appear in the axils of the upper leaves and on the top of these long spikes. This flowering takes time as it occurs about ten years after planting.

Due to its large size, it can be placed in the background of a flower bed. It can also be placed as a solitary plant on a lawn. It can be planted with large perennial plants that require moist soil, such as Butterbur, large Scabious, American Speedwell, Larkspur, or Willowherbs.

The root is renowned for its numerous medicinal properties and its use in distilleries. It serves as a base for the production of famous bitter aperitifs. The root is harvested from May to October.

The term Gentiana refers to Gentius, the king of Illyria (Albania) in the 2nd century BC, who, according to Pliny the Elder, discovered the medicinal and healing properties of the yellow gentian's root.