Sabatia capitata
Sabatia difformis
Appalachian rose-gentian, Cumberland rose-gentian
lance-leaf sabatia, lanceleaf rose gentian, white sabatia
single, terete or slightly 4-ridged but not angled or winged, 1.5–4.5(–7) dm, branching opposite or alternate.
1–several, clustered, proximally terete, distally sometimes ± 4-angled but not winged, 2.5–10.5 dm, branching opposite throughout.
basal and cauline present at flowering time;
blade oblong to elliptic, 2–5(–7) cm × 7–20(–25) mm.
all cauline at flowering time;
blade linear-lanceolate to narrowly or occasionally widely elliptic-ovate, 1–4(–6) cm × 3–14(–22) mm.
heads, sessile.
corymboid dichasia of compact cymules;
pedicels 1–8(–15) mm.
7–12-merous;
calyx tube widely campanulate, 3–6 mm, not ridged, lobes linear, 4–10 mm;
corolla pink or rarely white, eye pale yellow, projections of eye into corolla lobes semicircular, without a contrasting border, tube 5–7 mm, lobes narrowly spatulate-obovate, 12–25 × 5–13 mm, apex rounded;
anthers remaining straight or nearly so, not coiling.
5(or 6)-merous;
calyx tube shallowly campanulate, 1–2(–3) mm, midveins somewhat more prominent than commissural veins, low-ridged, commissural veins scarcely ridged, lobes narrowly lanceolate to filiform, (2–)4–9(–14) mm;
corolla white throughout (sometimes drying cream to yellow), tube 2.5–6 mm, lobes oblanceolate, (5–)7–21 × 2.5–8 mm, apex rounded;
anthers recurving.
= 76.
= 36.
Sabatia capitata
Sabatia difformis
Sabatia capitata is endemic to the southernmost portions of the Cumberland Plateau and the Ridge and Valley Province in northern and central Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee. An old specimen was labeled by a later recipient as being from North Carolina, but its provenance is uncertain.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
A historical record of Sabatia difformis from Maryland is documented, but no recent collections or reports are known from that state. Old reports of S. lanceolata from New York and Tennessee, for which no documentation was found in studies for this flora, are believed to be erroneous, probably based on misidentifications or misapplications of the name.
The name Sabatia paniculata (Michaux) Pursh is typified by a specimen of S. difformis but has often been misapplied to S. quadrangula (R. L. Wilbur 1955).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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