Northeast Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Gentiana clausa Raf.
- Family: Gentian (Gentianaceae)
- Flowering: August-October
- Field Marks: This gentian has the petals closed at the top, with the cleft appendage between the petals not quite as wide as the petals.
- Habitat: Moist woods, wet meadows, along streams.
- Habit: Perennial herb from a thickened rootstock.
- Stems: Upright, smooth, up to 2 feet tall.
- Leaves: Opposite, simple, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, pointed at the tip, tapering to the sessile base, without teeth, smooth, up to 4 inches long.
- Flowers: 2-5 in a terminal cluster, sessile, subtended by a cluster of 4-6 leaves.
- Sepals: 5, green, united below to form a tube, free parts up to 1/2 inch long, ciliate, shorter than the tube.
- Petals: 5, blue, united to form a cylindrical tube, up to 1 3/4 inches long, the tips closed at the top and separated by a cleft appendage a little narrower than the petals.
- Stamens: 5, attached to the petals.
- Pistils: Ovary superior; stigmas 2.
- Fruits: Capsules ellipsoid, short-stalked, up to 1 inch long.
Previous Species -- Fringe-top Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii)
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