| Gentiana cruciata | |
|---|---|
| Gentiana cruciata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Gentianaceae |
| Genus: | Gentiana |
| Species: | G. cruciata |
| Binomial name | |
| Gentiana cruciata L. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Gentiana cruciata, common name Star Gentian or Cross Gentian, is a herbaceous perennial[2] flowering plant in the Gentianaceae family.
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Gentiana cruciata is a hemicryptophyte scapose plant of small size, reaching on average 20–40 centimetres (7.9–16 in) in height. [3] It has erect stems, the leaves are large, ovate-lanceolate, semiamplexicaul, about 3–8 centimetres (1.2–3.1 in) long. The flowers are violet-blue trumpets with 4 petals, clustered in the axils of upper leaves. [3] The flowering period extends from June to August.[3] The flowers are hermaphrodite and pollinated by insects (entomogamy). The fruit is a capsule. The seeds are dispersed by gravity alone (barochory).
Gentiana cruciata is widespread in most of Europe (except Portugal, Great Britain and Scandinavia) and in Western Asia. [4]
This plant prefers dry calcareous soil in forest edges, bushy slopes, pastures, grasslands and dry meadows, at an altitude of 200–1,600 metres (660–5,200 ft) above sea level. [3]