Sabatia brevifolia
Sabatia arenicola
Elliott's or narrow-leaf or short-leaf sabatia, shortleaf rose gentian
coast rose-gentian, sand rose-gentian
single, terete, 1.5–7 dm, branching all or mostly alternate.
generally single, 4-angled with wings to 0.3 mm wide, 0.3–2(–3.2) dm, branching alternate or proximally occasionally opposite.
all cauline or basal occasionally persistent at flowering time;
blade linear to oblong-lanceolate, 0.5–3 cm × 1–5(–7) mm.
all cauline at flowering time;
blade elliptic to ovate or proximal occasionally obovate, 0.6–2(–2.7) cm × 2–9(–13) mm.
open cymes or solitary flowers at ends of branches;
pedicels (10–)20–40(–50) mm.
open cymes;
pedicels 2–40(–70) mm.
5-merous;
calyx tube obconic, 1–3 mm, mid- and commissural veins about equally prominent, not or low-ridged, lobes filiform, 3–8 mm;
corolla white, eye greenish yellow, projections of eye into corolla lobes without a contrasting border, tube 1–3 mm, lobes oblanceolate, 6–18 × 2–7 mm, apex obtuse to acute;
anthers coiling circinately.
5-merous;
calyx tube campanulate, 3.5–8.5 mm, commissural veins more prominent than midveins, ridged, lobes oblong-lanceolate to narrowly ovate-triangular, 3–20 mm;
corolla white to pink, eye white to pale yellow, projections of eye into corolla lobes oblong, without a contrasting border, tube 2–5 mm, lobes spatulate-obovate, 4–10(–13) × 2–8(–11) mm, apex obtuse to subacute;
anthers remaining straight or slightly coiling circinately.
= 32.
= 28.
Sabatia brevifolia
Sabatia arenicola
Reports of Sabatia brevifolia from Louisiana were based on a specimen of questionable provenance and are considered probably erroneous by students of that state’s flora.
In some older literature, the name Sabatia difformis was misapplied to S. brevifolia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Plants of Sabatia arenicola are densely leafy throughout. The vegetative parts are more succulent than those of the other species of Sabatia and darken upon drying (a useful character in identifying herbarium specimens). The mid-stem leaves of S. arenicola are mostly elliptic, widest near the middle, whereas those of S. campestris and S. formosa, to which it is most closely related, are mostly lanceolate to ovate, widest near the base.
Although Sabatia arenicola appears to be largely autogamous, it is now quite well isolated temporally from S. formosa. Molecular evidence indicates introgression of genetic material from S. formosa into part of the range of this species (N. B. Bell and L. J. Lester 1978).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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