Gentiana decora |
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Appalachian gentian, mountain gentian, showy gentian |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, 1.5–6 dm, puberulent on stems and calyx tubes. |
Stems | 1–4, terminal from caudex, decumbent to erect. |
Leaves | cauline, ± evenly spaced or somewhat more widely spaced distally; distal blades lance-elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 3–10 cm × 7–40 mm, apex acute to acuminate; proximal blades oblanceolate to obovate, apex obtuse to acute. |
Inflorescences | ± dense 1–15-flowered cymes or heads, sometimes with additional flowers at 1–3 nodes or on short branches. |
Flowers | calyx 10–20 mm, lobes ± erect, subulate to linear or occasionally oblanceolate, 2–8(–12) mm, margins ciliate; corolla white to pale or occasionally medium blue or violet, tubular, loosely closed to fully but narrowly open, 25–45 mm, lobes ovate-triangular, 3–6 mm, longer than plicae, free portions of plicae divided 1/2 or more of their length into 2 unequal, ± triangular, lacerate segments, narrower segment usuallly deflexed; anthers connate. |
Seeds | winged. |
2n | = 26. |
Gentiana decora |
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Phenology | Flowering fall. |
Habitat | Mesic woods, roadsides. |
Elevation | 600–1600 m. (2000–5200 ft.) |
Distribution |
GA; KY; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV
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Discussion | Hybrids of Gentiana decora with G. austromontana, G. clausa, and G. saponaria are known. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 14. |
Parent taxa | Gentianaceae > Gentiana |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Dasystephana decora |
Name authority | Pollard: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 13: 131. (1900) |
Web links |