Columbo Free

[Bonny Battaglino]

After spending 19 years in our Mountain Habitat as an unassuming rosette of leaves near the ground, one of our American columbos is about to put out a spectacular flowering stalk for the first and only time. Then, after reproducing, it will die.

A native member of the gentian family, American columbo (Frasera caroliniensis) can spend 30 years or more storing up energy for one show-stopping flowering event. When it finally has enough energy, it puts up a huge flowering stalk that can pass six feet in height and contain as many as 100 flowers. Individual American columbo plants die after putting on this exhausting display, but not before their flowers have the opportunity to be pollinated and develop into seeds that will form the next generation.

American columbo grows in rich forests in eastern and central North America, especially those on top of rocks rich in iron, magnesium, or calcium; here in North Carolina, it grows only in the mountains.

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