Gentiana setigera
Gentiana austromontana
elegant gentian, Mendocino gentian
Appalachian gentian, Blue Ridge or Roan Mountain or Appalachian gentian
1–12, arising laterally below rosettes, decumbent.
1–50, terminal from caudex, erect or nearly so.
basal and cauline;
cauline leaves gradually more widely spaced distally;
basal and rosette blades spatulate-obovate, 2.5–8.5 cm × 5–15 mm, apex obtuse;
cauline blades elliptic, 1–3 cm × 5–17 mm, apex obtuse to acute.
cauline, ± evenly spaced;
blade lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, 3–12 cm × 10–30 mm, apex acute to acuminate.
solitary flowers or 2–4-flowered heads.
1–15-flowered heads, sometimes with additional flowers at 1–3 nodes or on short branches.
calyx 14–23 mm, lobes ovate-oblong, 5–8 mm, margins not ciliate;
corolla deep blue, campanulate, open, 25–50 mm, lobes elliptic-obovate, 10–16 mm, free portions of plicae divided nearly to base into 2 or 3 long, threadlike segments;
anthers distinct.
calyx 8–25 mm, lobes lanceolate to ovate-triangular, narrowly ovate, or occasionally elliptic, 1.5–12 mm, margins ciliate;
corolla violet-blue, usually deeply colored, tubular, completely closed, 30–50 mm, lobes erect, triangular to nearly semicircular, 1.5–3 mm, free portions of plicae ± as long as lobes and ± 2 times as wide, deeply divided into 2 nearly equal, triangular to ± oblong segments, margins minutely erose;
anthers connate.
winged.
winged.
Gentiana setigera
Gentiana austromontana
Gentiana setigera is endemic to Gasquet Mountain, Del Norte County, and Red Mountain, Mendocino County, California, and a small area in Josephine County, Oregon. At the Oregon site, it has been called G. bisetaea or Waldo gentian. Reports from other sites have been based on G. plurisetosa, with which G. setigera has often been confused.
K. L. Chambers and J. Greenleaf (1989) and C. T. Mason (1991) distinguished Gentiana plurisetosa from G. setigera, clarified the nomenclature of G. setigera, and included G. bisetaea in G. setigera. Prior to those studies, all components of this complex had been of conservation concern. With G. plurisetosa comprising only a part of this complex, and with G. setigera now being more narrowly circumscribed, conservation concern remains appropriate for both of these species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Because of the relatively late recognition of Gentiana austromontana as a distinct species, specimens of this species have been identified both as G. clausa and as G. decora. Gentiana austromontana is distinguished from G. andrewsii, G. clausa, and G. latidens by the combination of puberulent stems and calyx tubes with free portions of the corolla plicae that are about as long as the lobes and about twice as wide, divided into two more or less triangular segments each similar to a true lobe in size and shape. Because of its puberulence, it has been confused with G. decora, which differs in its more open, generally paler corollas with longer lobes and plicae, and usually narrowly linear calyx lobes.
Both Gentiana austromontana and G. decora occur in the higher elevations of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, although G. decora tends to occur in shadier habitats. These species are usually distinctly dissimilar, in each case bearing a greater resemblance to other species than to each other, but populations of plants variously intermediate between the two occur relatively frequently, especially in Greene and Unicoi counties, Tennessee. Plants otherwise typical of G. austromontana but with narrowly open corollas have been found in Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, Ashe County, North Carolina, and may be derived from introgression of genetic material from G. decora. Gentiana austromontana also hybridizes occasionally with G. clausa.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
