A new variety of Centaurium namophilum (Gentianaceae) from the Great Basin

Authors

C. Rose Broome, Plant Variety Protection Office, USDA-AMS, Beltsville, Maryland, and Department of Botany, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California

Abstract

An expression of Centaurium namophilum (Gentianaceae), long confused with C. exaltatum in the Great Basin of the western United States, is described and designated as var. nevadense. It may be separated from the Death Valley region endemic, var. namophilum, by its broader leaves, its diffuse corymbose cyme, the ultimate peduncles that are longer than the flowers, its medium to deep rose pink corolla, and its stamens that equal or exceed the style and are only slightly exserted from the corolla-tube. The var. nevadense occurs from eastern California to western Utah, and from southeastern Oregon and adjacent Idaho south to the northern Mojave Desert of southeastern California. Centaurium exaltatum may be distinguished from the new variety by its broader, more elliptical leaves, dichotomous peduncles, paler pink or bluish and generally four-merous flowers, shorter and more blunt corolla lobes, and a thicker, more included style and stigma.

Recommended Citation

Broome, C. Rose (1981) "A new variety of Centaurium namophilum (Gentianaceae) from the Great Basin," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 41: No. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol41/iss2/4