Modoc frasera

Swertia modocensis H. St. John, Amer. Midl. Naturalist 26: 18. 1941

Stems densely puberulent. Leaf blades abaxially puberulent. Flowers: calyx lobes abaxially puberulent; corolla greenish white or pale to medium blue, generally with dark blue to purple spots; corona scales ovate to obovate or oblan­ceolate, (0.8–)1.5–2.5(–3.3) mm, margins entire or shal­lowly 2–3-lobed, rarely absent; rim of differentiated area on corolla surface fringed proximally, not fringed toward distal end. 2n = 52 (as Swertia albicaulis var. albicaulis).

Flowering summer. Dry, brushy sites; 900–1900 m; Calif., Nev., Oreg.

Variety modocensis has sometimes been included in var. albicaulis, but var. albicaulis in the narrow sense has been characterized by N. H. Holmgren (1984b) as being more robust than var. modocensis, as well as differing in the corona-scale character noted in the descriptions here.