Mendocino or elegant gentian

Gentiana bisetaea J. T. Howell

Herbs perennial, 2–4.5 dm, glabrous. Stems 1–12, arising laterally below rosettes, decum­bent. Leaves basal and cauline; cauline leaves gradually more widely spaced distally; basal and rosette blades spatulate-obovate, 2.5–8.5 cm × 5–15 mm, apex obtuse; cauline blades elliptic, 1–3 cm × 5–17 mm, apex obtuse to acute. Inflorescences solitary flowers or 2–4-flowered heads. Flowers: calyx 14–23 mm, lobes ovate-oblong, 5–8 mm, margins not ciliate; corolla deep blue, campanulate, open, 25–50 mm, lobes elliptic-obovate, 10–16 mm, free portions of plicae divided nearly to base into 2 or 3 long, threadlike segments; anthers distinct. Seeds winged.

Flowering late summer–fall. Bogs and wet mountain meadows; of conservation concern; 300–1100 m; Calif., Oreg.

Gentiana setigera is endemic to Gasquet Mountain, Del Norte County, and Red Mountain, Mendocino County, California, and a small area in Josephine County, Oregon. At the Oregon site, it has been called G. bisetaea or Waldo gentian. Reports from other sites have been based on G. plurisetosa, with which G. setigera has often been confused.

K. L. Chambers and J. Greenleaf (1989) and C. T. Mason (1991) distinguished Gentiana plurisetosa from G. setigera, clarified the nomenclature of G. setigera, and included G. bisetaea in G. setigera. Prior to those studies, all components of this complex had been of conservation concern. With G. plurisetosa comprising only a part of this complex, and with G. setigera now being more narrowly circumscribed, conservation concern remains appropriate for both of these species.