Morphological characteristics of Gentiana daofuensis, habit.
#NewSpecies
Gentiana daofuensis
A newly discovered #gentianaceae from #china!
Treatment: treatment.plazi.org/id/A24D894C-...
Publication: doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
#PhytoKeys #GentianaDaofuensis
#FAIRdata
#OA #taxonomy #nature #biodiversity #conservation #botany #flora #wildflowers #flowers #plants
Tightly cropped close-up photo of large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers with prominent 2-lobed stigmas. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
One of the commonly cultivated genera in the family is Eustoma, a genus of just 2 spp. from N., C. & S. America. It’s popular as a bedding annual & cut flower. This is a Eustoma russellianum hybrid. Note the big, 2-lobed stigma so typical of many in the family. #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of naked stems bearing flowers at various stages, from buds to senescence. The open flowers are green and widely funnel-shaped. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
This is Helia, probably H. acutangula (but I’m not 100% sure), from Brazil. It is a bat-pollinated Gentianaceae. Those big, funnel-shaped flowers on tall, naked stems are easy for small, echolocating, nectar-feeding bats to find. #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a pair of large, white, tubular, trumpet-shaped flowers with 5-lobed corollas. The stamens are visible in the centers of the flowers. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
Fagraea is a genus of woody Gentianaceae, of which there are many. Fagraea is found in the tropics of Asia, Australia & the Pacific. Many have large, showy flowers & ornamental potential but are seldom cultivated. This is Fagraea ceilanica. #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of thread-like leafless, achlorophyllous stems bearing solitary yellow flowers at their tips. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
Mycoheterotrophy (likely a parasitic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi) is known in the Gentianaceae in the genus Voyrya, which has an unusual amphi-Atlantic distribution, occurring in the African & American tropics. This is Voyria aphylla. #mycoheterotroph #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Close-up photo of a purple flower with 6 petal lobes. There are six porate anthers on in a group curved to one side. The long style and stigma curve away from the stamens. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
Exacum affine is just one of 76 spp from tropical Africa, Asia & Australia. Its showy flowers are fine examples of herkogamy (spatial separation of ♂ & ♀ parts within a flower). This one is cultivated as a florist plant. Some ssp of Exacum are mycoheterotrophs. #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of an upright stalk bearing whorls of bracts and flowers. The flowers hang down and have 4 lobes. Each lobe has a green spot (a nectary) near its base. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
Frasera is a genus of 15 spp in N. America. In 2024, a 19-year-old plant of F. caroliniensis growing in the NC Bot. Garden bloomed for the first & last time. This species is monocarpic (it flowers & dies). The peculiar greenish flowers have nectaries on the petals. #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Cluster of showy, 5-lobed, pink flowers with green eyes. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
Cluster of showy, 5-lobed, pink flowers with yellow eyes. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
The species of Sabatia (21 spp; 📷: S. angularis) are some of the prettiest wildflowers in the eastern US, Mexico & the Antilles. The similar-looking Zeltnera (27 spp; 📷: Z. venusta) occurs in western N. America but has a much wider distribution (to S. Amer.) #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a woodland plant growing among leaf litter and Oxalis plants. The upright stems have small, olive-green leaves and bear white flowers at their tips. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
The temperate species of Gentianaceae are herbaceous, like this odd little Obolaria virginica, the only member of its genus. It’s widespread across the SE USA. Linnaeus bestowed the name from the Greek, obolos, a coin of ancient Athens, but I’m not sure why. #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Close-up photo of three, 5-lobed, blue flowers. Note the appendages at the mouth of the corolla tube. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
The Gentianaceae (102 genera/1700+ spp) are worldwide, esp. abundant in montane regions. Their leaves are opposite, entire & glabrous; large flowers & 2-lipped stigma. Gentiana (345 spp), incl. this G. verna, does blue flowers especially well! #Gentianaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
They also grow on limestone, sometimes just stone. There’s not very much water, because rocks don’t hold water like soil, & it’s very alkaline.
Please enjoy the excitement of dwarf gentian & visit some high elevation plants if you can.
#PlantOTD #Gentianella #Gentianaceae #LimestoneObligate
Gentianella saxosa
(Rock gentian)
Gentianaceae
Waipapa Point, South Island,
New Zealand, May 2025
#GentianellaSaxosa #RockGentian #Gentianaceae #Aotearoa #NewZealand #WaipapaPoint #nzplants #NZflora #NewZealandFlora #botany #nature #NaturePhotography #photographyofbluesky #bluesky
