Gentianopsis crinita - (image 1 of 6)
Taxonomy
Family: Gentianaceae
Synonymous with Gentiana crinita Froel.
Habitat
Low woods, wet meadows, stream banks. Also found on calcareous interdunal sand flats near Lake Michigan in IN.
Associates
Distribution
Southern ME south to MD and along mountains to GA, west to Manitoba, SD, and IA. Rare in the Chicago region.
Morphology
Biennial to 0.8 m, often branched above. Leaves opposite, sessile, lanceolate to lance-ovate, mostly more than 1cm wide. Flowers blue, solitary on peduncles 5-20 cm long, terminating the axis and lateral branches; corollas 4-parted, typically 4-5.5 cm long, the obovate lobes deeply and distinctly fringed at the summit and part way down the sides, the fringe segments linear and 2-5 mm long; calyx tube more than 5mm long, the lobes acuminate, smooth or nearly so.
Notes
Flowers late August to early November
Wetland indicator: FACW
A transition to G. virgata may occur in the northern part of the range of this species, evidenced by plants with narrower leaves.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
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Michael Hough © 2009 |