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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GENTIAN FAMILY | |||||||||
| The gentians are found in many parts of the world, but are especially common in temperate to subtropical regions. All of the plants in this family are herbs. They have an association with fungi in the soil that helps the plant to obtain nutrients. The leaves are always opposite and without a leaf stalk. The flowers may be at the ends of the plants or in the upper leaf axils. The flowers may be small and greenish or large and purplish or white in colour. The petals often have hairs, scales or nectaries at the base or within the petal tube. The stamens are attached on the petals in most genera. The fruit is a capsule. | |||||||||
| MOSS GENTIAN | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Gentiana fremontii | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Moss gentian grows as tall as 10 cm from fibrous roots. There are few to many stems clustered together. The stems may be lying flat on the ground to erect and branched from the base. The basal leaves are in a rosette and are round to oval in shape. The stem leaves are numerous and are white-margined. The flowers are solitary and the top of the plant. Each flower has four or five sepals, petals and stamens. The petals are up to 1 cm long and are light greenish-purple or whitish in colour. The fruit is a small capsule that releases wingless seeds. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Moss gentian is found in calcareous and saline soil in springy meadow depressions. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland and Moist Mixed Grassland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Moss gentian is threatened because it is rare or uncommon and is regionally restricted in Saskatchewan. Most local populations are small and possible threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY MOSS GENTIAN | |||||||||
| * Are flowers solitary at the top of the plant? * Are the plants less than 10 cm tall? * Are the seeds wingless? * Did you find it in southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found moss gentian! | |||||||||
