Common Name: GENTIAN FAMILY Habit: Annual to perennial herb [to trees]. Stem: decumbent to erect, < 2 m, simple or branched. Leaf: simple, cauline, sometimes also basal, opposite or whorled, entire, sessile or basal +- petioled; stipules 0. Flower: bisexual, radial, parts in 4s or 5s except pistil 1; sepals fused, persistent; petals fused, +- persistent, sinus between lobes often unappendaged; stamens epipetalous, alternate corolla lobes; ovary superior, chamber 1, placentas parietal, often intruding, stigmas 1--2. Fruit: capsule, 2-valved. Seed: many. Genera In Family: +- 90 genera, 1800 species: worldwide; some cultivated (Eustoma, Exacum, Gentiana). Note:Gentianella tenella moved to Comastoma. Key to genera revised by Bruce G. Baldwin. eFlora Treatment Author: James S. Pringle, except as noted Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Habit: Annual, glabrous. Leaf: basal, cauline, opposite. Inflorescence: flowers 1, terminal on branches; pedicels >> subtending internode. Flower: parts generally in 4s; calyx tube << lobes; corolla < 2 cm, narrowly funnel-shaped, lobes spreading, < tube, +- entire, with 2 fringed scales on adaxial surface near base, nectary pits 0 (nectaries on lower corolla tube); ovary sessile, style +- 0, stigmas 2, persistent. Etymology: (Greek: hair, mouth, from fringes on corolla lobes)
Comastoma tenellum (Rottb.) Toyok.
NATIVE Habit: Plant < 15(25) cm. Stem: decumbent to erect, 1--25, simple or branched near base. Leaf: generally basal, < 20 mm, elliptic-oblong to spoon-shaped; cauline 1--4 pairs, smaller. Inflorescence: pedicels 2--10 cm. Flower: calyx 4--11 mm, lobes ovate to lanceolate; corolla 6--17 mm, pale violet-blue to white, lobes 2--4.5 mm, ovate-oblong. Chromosomes: 2n=10. Ecology: Open, wet places; Elevation: 3200--3900 m. Bioregional Distribution: c&s SNH, W&I; Distribution Outside California: to Alaska, Colorado; circumpolar. Flowering Time: Jul--Aug Synonyms: Gentiana tenella Rottb.; Gentianella tenella (Rottb.) Börner; Gentianella tenella subsp. tenella; Gentianella tenella var. tenella; Comastoma tenellum (Rottb.) Toyok. var. tenellum Jepson eFlora Author: James S. Pringle Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Comastoma Next taxon: Eustoma
Botanical illustration including Comastoma tenellum
Citation for this treatment: James S. Pringle 2012, Comastoma tenellum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=20070, accessed on April 19, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.
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