If you’ve been in the San Juan Mountains or the La Platas lately, you may have noticed a strange-looking plant towering over the meadows.
That’s the monument plant, also known as green gentian or elkweed. And this year, the plant appears to be having a major bloom.
The monument plant can spend decades as a low cluster of leaves before sending up one tall stalk covered in greenish-white flowers. That bloom is the plant’s finale. After it flowers and sets seed, it dies.
Researchers call it a monocarpic perennial, and in some years, many plants bloom at the same time in what’s known as a mast flowering event.
The result can look almost prehistoric: three - to seven-foot stalks rising out of mountain meadows, each carrying hundreds of flowers.
For hikers, it’s a good reminder to stay on trails and enjoy the display without picking the plants. This is a short-lived moment in a very long plant life.
