Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Pygmy Gentian
Gentiana prostrata
Gentian family (Gentianaceae)

If Siberian Gentian (Gentiana prostrata) is noticed at all, it is taken for a bit of blue fabric or a shred of litter. But another glance and you will notice a lovely plant; once you get down on your belly, you will find a delicate flower in a tiny package. This miniature beauty greatly rewards the search. Look for Siberian Gentian near and above tree line, especially near melting snow, in wet areas, and near seeps where it might be in the company of Grass of Parnassus, Star Gentian, and Bog Orchids. If you want a real show, shade the tiny flower or touch it and watch how quickly it snaps shut. But don't be disappointed if the trick does not work. Some flowers remain open. This plant was first collected in Austria by Thaddaus Haenke in 1789.


© Max Licher, downloaded from SEINet

Description

or plants with stems to 4" long, simple or branching at base, branches often on ground. Leaves 1/8 to 1/5" long, or . Flowers solitary, . about 1/3" long, 4 or 5 . about 1/2" long, tubular, blue to blue-violet, with about 1/4 length of tube. a .

Field Marks

Minute ground-hugging plant with tiny tubular blue flowers.

© Al Schneider

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

lobe -- Being divided by clefts.

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

An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seed, within one year, and then dies.

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

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

terminal -- Located at the end (the tip or the apex).

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.

biennial -- a plant which lives for two years, producing a basal rosette of leaves the first year and a full plant, flower, and seed the second year followed by the death of the entire plant at the end of the second year.

obovate -- Teardrop-shaped, stem attaches to tapering point.