Umpqua frasera or green-gentian

Swertia umpquaensis (M. Peck & Applegate) H. St. John

Herbs monocarpic, 3–14 dm, glabrous. Stems 1. Leaf blades not white-margined; basal spatulate-obovate, 15–60 (including proximal petiolar portions) × 3–17 cm; cauline leaves generally whorled, blade widely elliptic to ovate, apex obtuse to acute (proximal) to acuminate (distal). Inflorescences dense, sometimes interrupted proximally. Flowers: calyx 7–15 mm; corolla white or pale greenish yellow, pale yellow near midvein, sometimes with violet-blue tinge, not spotted, 5.3–11 mm, lobes ovate-oblong, apex acuminate; androecial corona a dense fringe to 5 mm; style short, ± stout and indistinctly differentiated from summit of ovary; nectaries and foveae 1 per corolla lobe, foveae round or nearly so, opening directly adaxial to nectary, without a differentiated area on the corolla surface, rim raised, with long, incurved fringes all around. 2n = 78.

Flowering late spring–summer. Mountain meadows, open woods; of conservation concern; 1200–2000 m; Calif., Oreg.

Former uncertainty as to the distinctness of Frasera umpquaensis from F. fastigiata has been cleared up by B. L. Wilson et al. (2010).