Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana sceptrum
broad-petal gentian
King gentian, King's gentian, King's scepter gentian, King's-scepter or staff or Pacific gentian, staff gentian
1–5, terminal from caudex, erect or nearly so.
1–4(–10), terminal from caudex, decumbent to 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 lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, 1–9 cm × 5–15(–20) mm, apex obtuse to acute.
solitary flowers or occasionally a terminal pair.
solitary flowers or 2–5-flowered heads or umbellate cymes, often also on peduncles to 8 cm or in cymules on branches from distal 1–4(–7) nodes.
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 13–27 mm, tube rarely deeply cleft, lobes lanceolate to elliptic-ovate or rarely foliaceous, 6–15 mm, margins not ciliate;
corolla blue or rarely rose-violet or white, narrowly campanulate, opening only slightly with lobes ascending to incurved, 25–50 mm, lobes oblong-ovate to orbiculate, 5–10 mm, summit of plicae forming ± truncate, entire sinus, not or scarcely extending beyond bases of lobes;
anthers distinct.
not winged.
winged toward ends only.
= 26.
Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana sceptrum
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.)
Plants of Gentiana sceptrum with ascending, narrowly lanceolate leaves conspicuously exceeded by the distal internodes have been called G. menziesii. Plants with spreading, elliptic to ovate, more closely spaced leaves have been called G. sceptrum var. cascadensis, although that variant might more appropriately be considered nomenclaturally typical. Studies for this flora have indicated that the extremes are connected by many intermediates, and that little correlation exists between leaf shape and geographic distribution, or between leaf shape and the other traits by which the segregates have been characterized, such as stature, erectness of stems, or numbers and sizes of flowers. Even within a relatively limited area, such as Vancouver Island, British Columbia, or Humboldt County, California, plants can be found with leaves ranging from narrowly lanceolate to widely elliptic.
Small plants with strongly decumbent stems, found at a few localities at or near the coast in California and southern Oregon, have been called Gentiana sceptrum var. humilis. Spathaceous calyces occasionally occur in these plants. Such plants are not recognized taxonomically here because larger plants approaching typical G. sceptrum have been found at the same localities or nearby, but they should be given further study.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
