PRAIRIE GENTIAN
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Eustoma exaltatum   (L. ) Salisb. ex  G. Don  subsp. russellianum  (Hook. ) Kartesz
[=Eustoma grandiflorum  (Raf. ) Shinners]
Comanche County, Kansas, Photo by Phyllis Scherich
Annual
Height: 10-24 inches
Family: Gentianaceae - Gentian Family
Flowering Period:   June, July, August, September
Also Called: Showy prairie gentian, texas bluebell.
Stems: Erect, 1 to several, stout, blue-green, waxy.
Leaves: Opposite, simple, stiffly ascending, variable, ovate-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, .6 to 3 inches long, 1/5 to 2 inches wide, waxy, 3-veined, margins entire, sessile to somewhat clasping.
Inflorescences: Clusters of 2-6 flowers, panicle-like, terminal on stout stalks to 2.5 inches long, bracts at base of stalk.
Flowers: Showy, 2 to 3 inches broad; calyx deeply cleft; sepals 5, united for less than 1/3 length; lobes linear-lanceolate, 1/2 to 1 inch long; corolla bell-shaped, deeply cleft, bluish-purple, pink or white; lobes 5, elliptic to egg-shaped, without folds or pleats between lobes; stamens 5 or 6; filaments 2/5 to 3/5 inch long; stigma 2-lobed, style slender.
Fruits: Capsule, oblong, pointed, to 4/5 inch long; seeds numerous, small, pitted.
Habitat: Moist meadows and prairies; moist sandy or sandy loam soils.
Distribution: West 1/2 of Kansas.
Comments: Named for Alexander Russell, and 18th Century English physician, author and botanist.

Prairie gentian
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Morton County, Kansas (photo by Marion McGlohon)
Prairie gentian
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Morton County, Kansas (photo by Marion McGlohon)
Prairie gentian sepals
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Comanche County, Kansas
Prairie gentian
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Comanche County, Kansas
Prairie gentian
189 KB
Morton County, Kansas (photo by Marion McGlohon)
Prairie gentian
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Comanche County, Kansas (photo by Phyllis Scherich)