The Bumblebee is Key to Bottle Gentian Survival

This cobalt blue flower, with its five petals overlapping and seemingly always closed, might make you think its lot in life is never to be visited by a pollinator. But don’t worry: the bumblebee is strong enough to pry open the flower, and in the process, pollination is accomplished. This bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) was found in the Woodland Park oak savanna prairie and is a stunning departure from the fields of yellow blooms so common to late-summer prairie flora. (Monona, Wisconsin)

≡Canon R5/RF100 MACRO 100mm f/10 1/400sec iso-8000