Gentiana sceptrum
King gentian, King's gentian, King's scepter gentian, King's-scepter or staff or Pacific gentian, staff gentian
1–4(–10), terminal from caudex, decumbent to erect.
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 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 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.
winged toward ends only.
= 26.
Gentiana sceptrum
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. 
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USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
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