Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Autumn Dwarf Gentian
Gentianella amarella
Gentian family (Gentianaceae)

Little Gentian is widely distributed, being found from low to tree-line, in all western states, and especially throughout the Rocky Mountains. Although preferring moist areas, Little Gentian is also common along warm, dry trails and in sunny . Plants bloom from July into September but for all their abundance they rank among the most unnoticed wildflowers. The species is commonly divided into two species or into two : acuta and heterosepala. The two are extremely similar. The Gentianella was named by Moench from European specimens. "Gentianella" is Greek for "little Gentian." "Amarella" means "a little bitter." Gentians have a long history of medicinal uses from treating digestive ailments to treating skin diseases. 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.


©2008 Alastair Rae

Description

or plants with stems from 1" to 16" tall, upright, simple or branched. and stem. Flowers 1-3, in axils of upper 4-6 leaves, on slender and some . equal to or obviously unequal in length. purple-lavender, with about 1/4 the total length of the , which is very obviously fringed in the . a .

Field Marks

Delicate plant with leaves and tubular blue-purple flowers arising for axils of upper leaves.

© Al Schneider

tapering to a point with straight sides, as in an upside down V.

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

funnelform -- Shaped like a funnel, as in the morning-glory flower.

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

pedicel -- The stem of a single flower.

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.

throat -- The opening of a flower.

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

glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.

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.

montane -- inhabiting mountainous country but below timberline.

subspecies -- Plants within a species can be divided into two or more supspecies when a botanist gives them subspecies names and describes how the subspecies differ. Often, variety and subspecies are used interchangeably.

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

basal leaves -- a leaf that grows lowest on the stem of a plant.