Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Pleated Gentian
Gentiana affinis
Gentian family (Gentianaceae)

Rocky Mountain Gentian (Gentiana affinis) is often found in dense clusters of a dozen or more stems and these clusters are scattered widely in wet . The plant often has strong maroon stems that attract attention even before the multitude of flowers open on the upper third of the plant. Lower flowers have ; upper flowers are tightly clustered and without (in a manner similar to Parry's Gentian (Gentiana parryi). Rocky Mountain Gentian differs from Parry's Gentian in having some of its flowers in leaf axils, a shorter which appears more cylindrical (versus bulging barrel shaped), a much shorter tube, and broad versus narrow floral .

Thomas Drummond collected this plant in the early 1830s and it was named and described by August Grisebach in William Jackson Hooker's "Flora Boreali-Americana" in 1837. The name, "gentian," is derived from "Gentius," a King of Illyria who is reputed to have found the local form of this plant beneficial for curing malaria in his troops. "Affinis" means "related to," and is of unknown reference. Linnaeus named the Gentian in 1753.


©2008 James L. Reveal

Description

plants with several stems from 4 to 20" tall. Leaves numerous, , , or . Flowers usually several to many in upper third of plant, some flowers well below the of the stems, some at . Leaf like or , unequal but often about as long as the tube. 1+" long, funnel-shaped but often appearing tubular because the pleats of the funnel are not unfolded; blue or purple, the about 1/6" long. a .

Field Marks

Numerous stems with blue to purple flowers in leaf axils and stem tips.

© Al Schneider

Axillary bud growing from the armpit of the plant.

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

meadow -- Large grass and wildflower filled area with few, if any, trees.

pedicel -- The stem of a single flower.

The apex is the tip or the furthest point from the attachment.

corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.

ovate -- Oval, egg-shaped, with a tapering point.

Bracts are modified leaves associated with a flower.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

oblong -- Having an elongated form with somewhat parallel sides. Rectangular.

lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.