The blue gentians of the European Alps are probably the most widely known and loved alpine flowers. At suitable altitudes, from June to August, the trumpet varieties (Gentiana acaulis and its allies) and the starry Gentiana verna relatives are ubiquitous, startling in the intensity of the blue colour.

Gentiana 'Sternschuppe' is an acaulis cultivar with light blue, trumpet-shaped flowers in early summer above mats of glossy, dark-green foliage.