Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gentiana autumnalis
FAMILY
Gentianaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Pinebarren Gentian at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Check out Jim Fowler's blog describing an October trip to NC's Green Swamp with Carolina Grass-of-Parnassus, Slender Rattlesnake-root, Long-lipped Ladies’-tresses orchid, and Pine Barren Gentian in glorious bloom.
Its electric blue color is striking to see in the wild. Feast your eyes on photographs of the southeastern Gentians in Jim Fowler's blog.
G. autumnalis is often overlooked, since it is very inconspicuous except when in flower, it usually flowers at a season when few botanists are about, and sterile plants greatly outnumber fertile ones. Vegetatively it is extremely distinctive once learned; the leaves are glossy, dark-green, opposite, oblanceolate to ‘oblinear’, and twisted and curved in a manner reminiscent of an airplane propeller, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gentiana autumnalis
FAMILY
Gentianaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 155-02-003:
Gentiana autumnalis FAMILY Gentianaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Gentiana porphyrio
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Dasystephana porphyrio
COMMON NAME:
Pinebarren Gentian, Autumn Gentian
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_dapo6_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm161001_134
September Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
JK Marlow jkm161001_135
September Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
Keith Bradley kab_g_autumnalis_3038
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
Rob Hunnings rlh_grswamp_20131025a
October Brunswick County NC
Green Swamp
The linear calyx lobes are 10-25mm long and 0.5-1.5mm wide, per Gentians of the Eastern US (Drake, 2011).
)
Rob Hunnings rlh_grswamp_20131025b
October Brunswick County NC
Green Swamp
Flowers typically 5-lobed, but an occasional 4-lobed flower can be found, per Gentians of the Eastern US (Drake, 2011).
)
Will Stuart wil_10361333186
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
Will Stuart wil_5059214749_1b2c2c3db2
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
These gentians don't open til mid-morning & close tightly by late afternoon. — Will Stuart
)
Will Stuart wil_5059828294_772927efc5
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Wide-open, deep blue flowers are green inside near base of corolla tube, per Gentians of the Eastern US (Drake, 2011).
)
Will Stuart wil1808658132_f490e813b0b
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Corolla lobes ovate and much longer than the appendages, per Gentians of the Eastern US (Drake, 2011).
)
Will Stuart wil1808658132_f490e813b0c
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Leaves narrow and grass-like, 0.5-5mm wide, per Gentians of the Eastern US (Drake, 2011).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gentiana autumnalis
FAMILY
Gentianaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gentiana autumnalis
FAMILY
Gentianaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 155-02-003:
Gentiana autumnalis
FAMILY
Gentianaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Gentiana porphyrio
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Dasystephana porphyrio
602
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Longleaf pine savannas, pine flatwoods, sandhills, pine barrens, in a variety of sites varying from moist to very xeric, in se. VA, NC, and SC nearly always associated with Pinus palustris and/or Aristida stricta, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas
Uncommon in NC, rare in SC
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Blue
(with green inside tube base)
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed corolla
5 stamens
Flowers solitary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p056
- Gentians of the Eastern US (Drake, 2011) p082
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p252
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p354
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p252
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p426
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p093
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