When blooming it grows a tall stalk with numerous flowers that have purple dotted green petals.

Though not as striking as the very tall flowering stalk, this stage of growth is quite unique in appearance and size in their range.

[3] Frasera speciosa has large dark colored fleshy roots that store starch for use when they bloom.

[3] Flowering is synchronized among plants in an area, with widespread, picturesque blooms occurring periodically.

[6][4][12][7] Each petal is 6–20 millimeters long and a narrow spear point shape with two nectar glands at the base.

[8] Each fertilized flower produces an oblong fruit called a capsule that is 18–25 millimeters long.

[2][14] The genus name, Frasera, was coined by Thomas Walter in 1788 in honor of the plant collector John Fraser.

In the Rocky Mountains it grows in much of Idaho, western Montana, almost all of Wyoming, Colorado, and mostly in the northern parts of New Mexico.

[1] Though, previously, thought to be a biennial plant, Frasera speciosa lives many years before flowering.

[6] Through an unknown mechanism the plants synchronize their blooms in order to attract more pollinators and to be less of a resource for herbivores.

[9] The previous generation of plants also provide a favorable environment for seeds to germinate.

Field observations found that twice as many seeds survived their first year of growth amid the debris left by the previous generation of plants as did in areas of bare soil.

[6][20] Bees in the genus Megachile and Anthophora terminalis also visit the flowers, but were observed to collect pollen rather than seeking nectar.