Gentiana triflora var. japonica f. montana ("Ezoyamarindo")

Japanese name: エゾオヤマリンドウ （蝦夷御山竜胆）
Scientific name: Gentiana triflora var. japonica f. montana

[Overview]
A perennial 20–30 cm tall, found in damp alpine grasslands.
It has a thick rhizome underground.
The stem is erect.
Leaves are simple and opposite, with 5 or more pairs on the stem; they are lanceolate, and the undersides are tinged with a powdery white.
The leaf margins are not rough.
There is no leaf stalk.
Several flowers are borne at the stem tip, with bracts.
The corolla is tubular-bell-shaped, 5-lobed at the tip, and bluish purple.
The corolla lobes spread open flat.
The calyx lobes are uneven in length and shape.
The flowers face upward and open only on sunny days.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by division, or by shoot cuttings.
The best time for shoot cuttings is May–June.
It prefers a fertile soil that is sunny, well drained, moisture-retentive and well aerated.
Direct summer sun scorches the leaves, so move it to bright shade or give it 50% shading.
It is cold tolerant, but in winter it is best protected with straw mulch or similar so that it does not suffer hard freezing or cold wind.
It dislikes dryness and the leaves are damaged when it dries out, so water once a day, in summer in the evening when the temperature drops.
The leaves turn yellow when fertilizer is lacking.
Apply slow-release fertilizer as a base fertilizer, and apply liquid fertilizer twice a month in spring and autumn.
Leaving flowers on after they have finished tires the plant, so remove spent flowers unless you intend to collect seed.
Pests and diseases include rust, root-knot nematodes and aphids.

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