On The Fringe

Journal of the Native Plant Society of Northeastern Ohio

Membership in The Native Plant Society of Northeastern Ohio includes a subscription to On The Fringe, our Society’s journal.  It contains interesting articles about a range of botanical subjects, almost all of which are accessible to those with no formal training in botany.  Take a minute to check out a sample of the table of contents and an article from a recent issue.  (If you were wondering, our journal takes its name, On The Fringe, from the flower pictured in our logo, the fringed gentian.)

On The Fringe

Table of Contents

March 2009

Spring 2009 Wildflower Events

Bats:  Winged Winders – Lori Totman

Degenerate Wildflowers – Marcia Bonta

Harbingers – George Ellison

Sumac:  A shrub For All Seasons – Larry Hodgson

A Brief History of the Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society – Victor G. Soukup

Fringed Gentian:  A Rare Gentianopsis – Gordon Mitchell

The Ice Age In Ohio, Part 1 – Michael C. Hanson

Flowering Dogwood–Cornus florida L. – Robert Tener

Old Woman Creek SNP – ODNR

Book Review:  Noah’s Garden – Greg Tillman

Alternatives to Invasive Plants:  Shrubs – Cheryl Lowe

Worm Warfare – Niall Dunne

Garlic Mustard Pesto – Steve Brill

How Do You Tell Native From Non-Native Euonymus Species – Ellen Jacquart

On The Fringe

An Article From On The Fringe

Fringed Gentian:  A Rare Gentianopsis

Gordon Mitchell*

Due to their highly attractive flowers, many Gentian species have fallen victim to flower pickers and are becoming scarce in their natural habitats.  One such species that is especially becoming increasingly scarce is the Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis crinita [Froelich] Ma).

The Fringed Gentian is a member of the Gentian Family (Gentianaceae).  The generic name, Gentianopsis, was named for King Gentius of Illyria (along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea), during the 2^nd Century B.C. (According to the ancient Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder, in the 1^st Century A.D., King Gentius used an Old World relative as a medicinal plant.)  The suffix to the generic name, opsis, means “like”, as in “like a Gentian”.  The specific epithet, crinata, is Latin for “hairy” or “with long hairs or fringes.”

Other common names for this plant are Fringed Blue Gentian, Greater Fringed Gentian, and Oval-leaf Gentian.  Previous scientific names for this plant were Anthopogon crinitum (Froelich) Rafinesque, Gentiana crinita Froelich, Gentiana nevadensis Gilg, Gentiana ventricosa Grisebach, and Gentianella crinita (Froelich) G. Don.

The Fringed Gentian is considered to be a very attractive flower.  A survey taken in the 1940’s listed the Fringed Gentian as the 8^th most beautiful wildflower.  Unfortunately, too many of these flowers have been picked in the wilds, which helped make this beautiful plant a rarity.

The Fringed Gentian has played a role in American culture.  Some of our early American authors and poets wrote about this plant.  In 1832, American poet, William Cullen Bryant, wrote his poem, To the Fringed Gentian. Emily Dickinson’s poem Fringed Gentian was published in 1891.  Because of this plant’s rarity, American poet and essayist Henry David Thoreau once said, “It (Fringed Gentian) came very near not being an inhabitant of our latitude, perhaps our globe, at all.”

Description	Annual or biennial.
Height	4-40 inches.
Stem	Erect.  Slender.  Smooth.
Leaves	Simple. Opposite. Sessile.  Each leaf is about 1-2 inches long, about 3/8 inch wide, broadly lanceolate or ovate, and has a rounded base and a pointed tip. The leaf margins are entire.
Flowers	Violet-blue.  The flowers are located at the tips of the terminal branches.  Each flower is about 1-3 inches long, about 1 inch wide, and is radially symmetrical.  The calyx consists of 4 green lobes.  The corolla is tubular and consists of 4 flared and rounded petals.  Each petal is fringed or toothed at the tip with long hairs.   (These unique petals keep certain insect species away from the flower’s nectar.  The flared petals would collapse under the weight of larger insects species and the petal’s hairs would impede the movement other insect species.)  There are 4 stamens and 1 pistil with 2 stigmas.  The anthers of each flower mature before the pistil of that flower.  When the pistil finally matures the anthers would have wilted.  This timing system is called protandry and encourages only cross-fertilization.   These flowers open only in direct sunlight and close at night or on cloudy days.   This closure helps keep the rain out of the flower’s nectar.   One single plant is capable of producing up to 100 flowers.   Flowering season is usually August to November.
Fruit	Pod.   The spindled pod opens into 2 sections to release their brown, hairy, windborne seeds.  This plant only grows from seed. These seeds require just the right amount of soil moisture to germinate.   Because of that requirement, the Fringed Gentian is a very difficult plant to cultivate.
Habitat	Calcareous slopes, moist woodlands, wet meadows, stream banks, and wetlands.

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