Family: Gentianaceae,
Gentian
Genus: Gentianopsis
Description
General: hairless annual 10-35 cm tall, stems usually
several from the base, simple or branched.
 Leaves: numerous in a basal tuft, oblanceolate to
spatulate, 1.5-4 cm long, stem leaves opposite, 2-4 pairs,
narrowly lanceolate to oblong or oblanceolate.
 Flowers: terminal on long, naked stalks and usually
also from leaf axils with a pair of scarcely reduced, leaflike
bracts at or below midlength. Calyx 15-25 mm long, the 4
lobes pointed, about equaling the tube. Corolla 3.5-5.5 cm
long, deep blue or purplish, glandular at the base between
the bases of the filaments, the 4 lobes about equal to the
tube, oblong-obovate, ragged at the tip and the sides.
Stamens slightly shorter than, and inserted midlength of
the corolla tube, the joined portion wing-edged, the free
portion thin and flat. Anthers oblong, 3-4 mm long. Style
comparatively slender, 4-6 mm long, the stigma lobed,
broad and flattened, comb-like fringed.
Flowering time: July-August.
 Fruits: capsules, the seeds prism-shaped, about 0.5
mm long, finely honey-combed, dark-brown.
Distribution
Meadows, bogs, and moist ground, in w. and s.c. parts of
MT. Circumboreal, in N. America from Newf. to AK, ID,
CA, AZ, Mexico, SD, IN and NY. |
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