Gentiana fremontii (Moss Gentian) - photos and description
Basal
leaves have white margins
General: Small biennial plant, branching from the base, with basal leaves in a rosette. Plants glabrous.
Flowers: Flowers solitary at the end of stems, white, tubular, 4-pleated. Flower measured at 9 mm long by 5 mm wide.
Leaves: Basal leaves obovate with white margins and a pointed tip (white margins only noticeable in the field when viewed with a loupe). Basal leaf measured at 5 mm long x 3 mm wide. Stem leaves opposite, fused together into a sheath, oblanceolate, stem leaf measured at 4 mm long.
Height: Height is listed in Budd's Flora to 10 cm, we measured plants to only 4 cm tall.
Habitat: Moist meadows.
Abundance: Rare, this plant is ranked as an S3 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: Above photos taken June 3rd and June 8th, moist meadow in pasture, about 120 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.