''Gentiana puberulenta'', the downy gentian, is a branchless

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

plant of the

Gentianaceae Gentianaceae is a family of flowering plants of 103 genera and about 1600 species. Etymology The family takes its name from the genus '' Gentiana'', named after the Illyrian king Gentius. Distribution Distribution is cosmopolitan. Characteri ...

family native to North America. It is about ¾–1½' tall, with bright blue to deep blue-violet bell-shaped, upright, five-lobed flowers measuring 1½ to 2¼ inches across when fully open. Flowers grow in clusters of 1–8 at the apex of the plant.

Lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, glossy leaves up to 3" long and 1¼" across are arranged oppositely along the central stem, except at the apex where they grow in whorls of 3–7. ''Gentiana puberulenta'' grows in dry upland prairies and woods and rocky open slopes.

References

puberulenta Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Gentianales-stub