Photo, Renee Brecht |
Britton & Brown |
Botanical name: | Gentiana saponaria |
Common name: | harvestbells; soapwort gentians |
Group: | dicot |
Family: | Gentanaceae |
Growth type: | forb/herb |
Duration: | perennial |
Origin: | native |
Plant height: | 8 - 30" |
Foliage: | linear or elliptic, 2-4", leaves opposite |
Flower: | blue; flowers clustered, stalkless; 1/2", lobes fused with pleats below forming a tube or often flaring above; sepal-lobes narrowly oval (Clemants & Gracie, p. 4) |
Flowering time: | late September - October |
Habitat: | wet woods, swamps |
Range in New Jersey: | statewide |
Heritage ranking, if any: | n/a |
Distribution: | |
Misc. | Gentiana is named after Gentius, king of Illyria, who, according to legend, discovered a medicinal value for the yellow gentian.
Saponaria - resemblance of the leaves to the common soapwort, which is in the genus Saponaria. |