The Prairie Gentian has blue-green leaves and erect, 1-3 ft. stems covered with a waxy bloom. The flowers are extremely showy and can be blue, purple, pink, white, or yellow. They are bell-shaped and upright, occurring singly at the ends of long stalks from short branches near the top of the plant.
Depending on where it is grown, this species may act like an annual, biennial, or perennial. In most of its native range, it is a perennial. This subspecies (formerly considered the species E. grandiflorum) is one of the most attractive prairie wildflowers. The name Eustoma comes from the Greek words "eu" (meaning "good") and "stoma" (meaning "mouth"), referring to the large opening into the flower's "throat" where the corolla lobes join.The Japanese have been breeding Texas Bluebells for over 70 years. In Japan, this plant is known as Lisianthus, an older name for the Eustoma genus. They have developed pink, white, and deep purple-blue varieties with single and double-petaled flowers. However, Texas Bluebells are not as common now as they once were due to their beauty. People have picked them from the wild in such numbers that the wild populations have been unable to reseed in their native habitat.
The large flowers have an intense hue and bloom, while many other plants look crispy and brown in the summer. The blue-gray foliage is almost succulent. In larger gardens, Prairie Gentians look great when combined with Indian grass.
