Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana catesbaei
broad-petal gentian
Catesby's or coastal plain gentian, Elliott's gentian
1–5, terminal from caudex, erect or nearly so.
1–5, terminal from caudex, erect or nearly so.
cauline, ± evenly spaced;
blade widely ovate to elliptic, 1.5–4 cm × 8–22 mm, apex obtuse.
cauline, ± evenly spaced;
blade usually ovate, occasionally elliptic, 1.5–7.5 cm × 4–30 mm, apex acute.
solitary flowers or occasionally a terminal pair.
± dense 1–10-flowered cymes or heads, sometimes with additional flowers at 1–4(–8) nodes or on branches.
calyx 8–12 mm, tube cleft to base or nearly so into 2 spathaceous segments, lobes elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 0.5–5 mm, margins not ciliate;
corolla bright blue, campanulate, open, 30–38 mm, lobes widely ovate-triangular, 6–11 mm, free portions of plicae spreading, low-triangular, less than 1 mm, notched at apex, otherwise entire;
anthers distinct.
calyx 17–55 mm, lobes erect, lanceolate, 10–35 mm, mostly longer than tube, often ± foliaceous, margins ciliate;
corolla blue or occasionally rose-violet, tubular, slightly to fully but narrowly open, 35–55 mm, lobes ± erect to spreading, deltate-ovate, 5–10 mm, usually 2–4 mm longer than plicae, free portions of plicae divided 1/2 or more of their length into 2 subequal, erect, ± triangular, lacerate segments;
anthers connate.
not winged.
winged.
Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana catesbaei
Gentiana platypetala is restricted to sites near the Pacific largely confined to the insular ranges of British Columbia and southern Alaska from northern Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, and Alice Arm, British Columbia, northwest to Kodiak Island, Alaska, but occasionally on mainland coastal ranges.
The distinctive spathaceous calyces of this species are strongly suffused with reddish purple.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Gentiana catesbaei is believed to be extirpated from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Specimens from Alabama have been reidentified as G. saponaria as all such specimens seen in studies for this flora had the elliptic leaves and short calyx lobes typical of G. saponaria rather than the ovate leaves and much longer calyx lobes that characterize G. catesbaei.
From the more widely distributed Gentiana saponaria, G. catesbaei differs most conspicuously in its ovate rather than elliptic leaves, widest proximal to rather than near mid-length; calyx lobes widest near mid-length and usually 1.5–3 times as long as the tube; and generally with spreading rather than incurved corolla lobes.
Gentiana catesbaei is almost entirely restricted to the Atlantic coastal plain, where it displaces the closely related G. saponaria south of northeastern North Carolina. In the northern part of its range, where the ranges of these species overlap, they generally remain distinct, although a few plants apparently of hybrid origin have been found. A hybrid with the much less similar G. villosa is also known.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MD Biodiversity
