Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana villosa
broad-petal gentian
striped gentian, striped or pale or straw-color 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, ± evenly spaced;
blade obovate or spatulate to elliptic, 2.5–10 cm × 10–40 mm, proximal blade apices retuse or truncate to obtuse, distal ± acute.
solitary flowers or occasionally a terminal pair.
± dense 1–10-flowered cymes, often with additional flowers at 1 or 2(–4) 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 11–50 mm, lobes linear to oblanceolate, 5–35 mm, margins not ciliate;
corolla largely white or greenish white with veins outlined in green, sometimes suffused with violet, or grayish violet ± throughout, tubular, narrowly open, 30–55 mm, lobes ascending, ovate-triangular, 4–10 mm, free portions of plicae obliquely triangular, erose, occasionally shallowly bifid;
anthers connate or distinct.
not winged.
not winged.
= 26.
Gentiana platypetala
Gentiana villosa
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 villosa is believed to be extirpated from Delaware, the District of Columbia, and New Jersey.
Although the name Gentiana ochroleuca is a heterotypic synonym of G. villosa, it was sometimes applied to G. flavida during the nineteenth century. Such a misapplication is responsible for reports of G. ochroleuca from Illinois. Reports of G. villosa from Arkansas are plausible but remain unsubstantiated.
The species name is a misnomer as plants of Gentiana villosa species are glabrous. The use of the translation “hairy gentian” as a common name is inappropriate and potentially confusing.
There is one record each of hybrids of Gentiana villosa with G. autumnalis and G. catesbaei.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
