Common Name:
SMALL FRINGED GENTIAN
Synonym:
Gentianopsis procera
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
8
Coefficient of Wetness:
-5
Wetness Index:
OBL
Physiognomy:
Nt A-Forb
C. Peirce
G. procera of Michigan Flora.
A calciphile like G. crinita, but seemingly more often in wetter and peatier sites than the moist sandy meadows G. crinita prefers; fens, sandy, gravelly, rocky, and marly shores, wet meadows, crevices in limestone (or dolomite) pavements; often makes a magnificent blue display when in bloom in interdunal hollows and calcareous flats along the northern shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Floral differences often cited between this species and G. crinita do not hold up. The corolla in our material of both may be as long as 7–7.5 cm, and both may have stalked ovaries. There does seem to be a tendency for the cilia (fringe) at the end of the corolla lobes in G. virgata to be reduced to little more than irregular teeth. Robust plants may have leaves as broad at the base as in G. crinita, but they are relatively much longer. The small leaves or bracts below the long pedicels are sometimes ovate (shaped as in the larger leaves of G. crinita), while the principal leaves are much longer and linear-lanceolate. See Pringle (2002) for the nomenclature.