Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana rubricaulis
broad-petal gentian
closed gentian, great lakes or red-stem or purple-stem gentian, red-stem gentian
1–5, terminal from caudex, erect or nearly so.
1–5, terminal from caudex, erect.
cauline, ± evenly spaced;
blade widely ovate to elliptic, 1.5–4 cm × 8–22 mm, apex obtuse.
cauline, gradually more widely spaced distally;
blade linear to oblong-lanceolate (proximal) or lanceolate to ovate (distal), 3–9 cm × 8–30 mm, apex acute.
solitary flowers or occasionally a terminal pair.
dense 1–15-flowered cymes, basally ± enveloped by ascending, conduplicate involucral leaves, rarely with additional flowers at one node.
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 10–26 mm, lobes oblong, 2–14 mm, margins not ciliate;
corolla grayish violet to violet-blue or occasionally rose-violet or white, tubular, loosely closed or slightly open, 30–45 mm, lobes ascending, ovate-triangular, 4–8 mm, free portions of plicae obliquely triangular, erose, with minute, deflexed second segment;
anthers connate.
not winged.
winged.
= 26.
Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana rubricaulis
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.)
The name Gentiana linearis var. lanceolata A. Gray was applied originally to plants referable to G. linearis, although the name G. rubricaulis was cited in synonymy. The name G. linearis var. latifolia was applied originally only to G. rubricaulis, but both of these names were applied subsequently to both that species and relatively wide-leaved specimens of G. linearis. This confusion has been responsible in some cases for the rejection of specific status for G. rubricaulis, and for erroneous reports of G. rubricaulis in New York and Vermont. Reports from Nebraska were based on an old misidentification of G. puberulenta. Reports from Saskatchewan were also based on misidentified specimens. Reports of G. rubricaulis in Maine and New Brunswick are correct, although these populations are disjunct by about 775 km from the easternmost populations in Ontario.
In marked contrast to all other species of Gentiana in eastern and central North America, including G. linearis, the involucral leaves of this species are strongly ascending and somewhat conduplicate as well as being wider, and envelop the proximal portion of the flower cluster.
In the vicinity of Lake Superior, where the ranges of Gentiana rubricaulis and G. linearis overlap, these species maintain their distinctness, with G. rubricaulis occurring in calcareous soils and G. linearis in granitic and similar strongly acid soils (J. S. Pringle 1968). A few hybrids of G. rubricaulis with G. andrewsii, which is likewise a calciphile, are known. These hybrids have been designated G. × grandilacustris J. S. Pringle.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
Go Botany
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
