Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana fremontii
broad-petal gentian
Fremont's gentian, moss gentian, moss or Frémont's or lone gentian
1–5, terminal from caudex, erect or nearly so.
1–10(–25), decumbent to erect.
cauline, ± evenly spaced;
blade widely ovate to elliptic, 1.5–4 cm × 8–22 mm, apex obtuse.
basal and cauline, cauline leaves gradually smaller, more widely spaced and more strongly ascending distally;
blade conspicuously white-margined, apex acute;
basal blades widely spatulate to ovate or orbiculate, 0.2–1.3 cm × 1.5–8 mm;
cauline blades oblanceolate to linear, distal blades 4–7 × 0.6–2 mm.
solitary flowers or occasionally a terminal pair.
solitary flowers.
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 4–12 mm, lobes narrowly oblong-triangular, 1.5–3.5 mm, margins not ciliate;
corolla white to pale blue or rarely deeper blue, often with dark blue lines abaxially, nearly salverform, open, 7–15 mm, lobes lance-ovate, 2–4 mm, free portions of plicae low-triangular with margins entire or shallowly erose-serrate or notched at apex;
anthers distinct.
not winged.
not winged.
Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana fremontii
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.)
In contrast to the deep green stems and leaves of Gentiana prostrata, the vegetative parts of G. fremontii are much paler. G. Engelmann (1879) described plants of G. fremontii as having a pale, sickly appearance, and J. A. Ewan annotated specimens as having been yellowish when seen in the field, reminiscent of a fungus or broomrape (Aphyllon or Orobanche). This suggests that mycorrhizal symbiosis is especially significant in this species, but its trophic ecology has not been studied.
Gentiana fremontii differs further from G. prostrata in having obovoid capsules less than twice as long as wide, generally not fully exserted from the marcescent corolla, narrowly winged distally along the sutures, with valves that eventually separate nearly to the base, whereas the capsules of G. prostrata are compressed-cylindric, more than twice as long as wide, often fully exserted at maturity, not winged, with the valves separating only above the middle. Also, although both species vary in this respect, G. fremontii more often has the flower parts in fives.
The names Gentiana aquatica Linnaeus and Chondrophylla aquatica (Linnaeus) W. A. Weber have often been applied to this species. Gentiana fremontii, although similar to the Siberian and Chinese G. aquatica, appears to differ consistently in the wider, more conspicuous white margins of its leaves, longer and proportionately narrower mid-cauline leaves, usually white rather than blue corollas, and corolla plicae that generally have jagged rather than entire summits. The illegitimate name G. humilis Steven 1812, not Salisbury 1796, has also been applied to G. fremontii, but the North American plants are not now considered conspecific with the type from Azerbaijan.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
