Gentiana procera - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Gentianaceae
Habitat
Calcareous fens
Associates
Consistently found with Lobelia kalmii and Parnassia glauca. Other associates include Aster borealis, Cirsium muticum, Thelypteris palustris, Epilobium leptophyllum, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Juncus brachycephalus, Lythrum alatum, Oxypolis rigidior, Panicum flexile, Pedicularis lanceolata, Potentilla fruticosa, Solidago ohioensis, Solidago ridellii, Valeriana ciliata.
Distribution
Morphology
Biennial. Leaves opposite, linear to linear-lanceolate, mostly less than 1cm wide. Flowers blue, on stout peduncles 2cm or more long; corollas 4-parted, more than 2.5cm long, lobes fringed, broad summit of lobes erose-dentate; Calyx tube more than 5mm long.
Notes
Flowers early September to early October
Wetland indicator: Obligate
From a distance the flower could be mistaken for Iris virginica for it's size and color, except that the gentians bloom in late summer/early fall. Well, it is a little smaller than an iris but the color is dead on. Some authors place the fringed gentians in the genus Gentianopsis and would call this species Gentianopsis procera (Holm.) Ma. or Gentianopsis virgata (Raf.) Holub.
Bibliography
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
|
Michael Hough © 2004 |