10. Gentianella propinqua (Richardson) J. M. Gillett, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 44: 236. 1957.
Four-parted or small-flowered gentian, gentiane fausse-amarelle
Gentiana propinqua Richardson in J. Franklin, Narr. Journey Polar Sea, 734. 1823; Aloitis propinqua (Richardson) Á. Löve & D. Löve; Arctogentia propinqua (Richardson) Á. Löve & D. Löve
Herbs annual, 2–25(–40) cm. Stems decumbent to erect, all but smallest plants usually branched from near base. Leaves: basal blades elliptic to spatulate-obovate or oblanceolate, 5–35 × 2–8 mm; cauline blades elliptic-ovate to lanceolate, 5–35 × 2–10 mm. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, dichasial cymes, subcapitate in subsp. aleutica; pedicels 0–30 mm (lateral flowers sessile or on shorter pedicels than central). Flowers 4-merous; calyx 5–12 mm, lobes 3–8 mm, 2 outer lobes elliptic to ovate-oblong and ovate, larger than the inner and often ± foliaceous, inner narrowly lanceolate to linear-subulate; corolla blue-violet or rose-violet to white, tubular to narrowly funnelform, 7–22 mm, lobes spreading, lanceolate-ovate, 3–5 mm, apex obtuse, acuminate, or mucronate to bristle-tipped, without scales or fringes (flowers often smaller or rudimentary on basal branches); ovary short-stipitate.
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora): North America, Asia (ne Siberia).
Plants of Gentianella propinqua usually have an erect central stem from which several more slender, proximally curved or decumbent branches arise at or near the base. A similar branching pattern and general aspect sometimes occur in the highly variable G. amarella subsp. acuta, so one should make sure that the corollas are devoid of adaxial trichomes before identifying plants as G. propinqua.
The subspecies of Gentianella propinqua are weakly differentiated. Some specimens from the Aleutian Islands approach subsp. propinqua in morphology. Conversely, although subsp. propinqua has often been described as having merely mucronate or abruptly bristle-tipped corolla lobes, in contrast to the acuminate corolla lobes of subsp. aleutica, many specimens from the mainland of Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and elsewhere have more or less long-acuminate corolla lobes.
