early horse gentian

not listed

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

not listed

FAC - Facultative

FAC - Facultative

FAC - Facultative

Early horse gentian is a 2′ to 4′ tall, erect, perennial forb rising on 1 or more stems from a taproot.

The stems are 2′ to 4′ tall and are covered with short, glandular hairs that are more than 0.5 mm long. Mixed in with the glandular hairs are longer non-glandular hairs.

The leaves are opposite, light green, and untoothed. They are attached to the stem without a stalk but are not fused at the base. They are 4″ to 12″ long, 1½ ″ to 6″ wide, and broadly-elliptic. They taper gradually to a pointed tip and taper broadly to the base. They have sparse, glandular hairs on the upper surface, and dense, soft hairs on the lower surface.

The inflorescence is a tight cluster of 1 to 4 (usually 3 to 4) flowers in the upper leaf axils.

At the base of the flower are 5 linear, erect sepals. They are uniformly hairy on the back and along the margins, and sometimes also have glandular hairs.

The flowers are ⅓″ to ⅔″ long with 5 maroon, reddish-purple to brown, or yellowish-green petals. The petals are fused into a tubular or bell-shaped floral tube along most of their length. The tube is swollen on one side at the base. The lobes of the tube are unequal in length. The style is shorter than and does not protrude from the floral tube.

The fruit is berry-like, dull orange-yellow, and hairy. Each fruit contains 3 oblong stones.

2′ to 4′

Maroon, reddish-purple to brown, or yellowish-green

Dry. Woods, thickets.

May to June

Sources

2, 3, 4, 7, 28.

Native

There are three varieties of early horse gentian. Only var. aurantiacum occurs in Minnesota.

Plant

Infructescence