mountain bluebells

Mertensia ciliata is a perennial herb producing a cluster of erect stems from a thick, branching caudex. The leafy stems reach well over a meter in maximum height. The leaves are up to 15 centimetres (6 in) long, veiny, and oval to lance-shaped. Blooming from May to August, the inflorescence is an open array of many clustered blue bell-shaped flowers each between 1 and 2 cm (1⁄2 and 3⁄4 in) long. The hanging, fragrant flower is tubular, expanding into a wider, lobed mouth. As the individual flowers progress in age they change in color from blue to pink-red.

It is native to the western United States. It grows throughout the southwestern US in the states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. It is also found in the northwest in Oregon and Idaho. It also is known from the Rocky Mountain states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. It is found as far east as South Dakota. It often grows in moist habitat, such as subalpine meadows and creeksides. It often carpets large areas of meadow and hillside with blue-green foliage and sweet-scented bluebell blooms.

The flowers bear poricidal anthers and are fertilized via buzz-pollination by several Bombus species. Primary nectar robbing by Bombus species, including B. occidentalis, is common in some populations.

The flowers, young stems and leaves are edible raw; older leaves (when the plant tends to be hairy) should be cooked. The plant contains alkaloids so should not be eaten in high quantities.