Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicots

Order: Gentianales

Family: Gentianaceae -- gentian

Common Name: clustered frasera, clustered green gentian

Species Code: FRFA

Origin: Native to moist meadows and open forests of extreme eastern Washington and northern Idaho with a disjunct population in southwest Oregon and northern California.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from a caudex, usually with a single unbranched flowering stem, glabrous and usually glaucous, 50-150 cm tall.

Duration: perennial

Habitat Type: forest, shrub thickets

Wetland Indicator Status: not listed

Leaves: prominently 3 veined, narrowly white margined; basal leaves whorled, 20-45 cm long, obovate to spatulate-oblanceolate, acute, thin; cauline leaves in whorls of 3 or 4, reduced and becoming more lanceolate upward, acute.

Mature height: 20-60 inches

Flowers: borne in a narrow, congested thyrse; calyx lobes lanceolate, 5-13 mm long; corolla tubular-campanulate, pale blue to lavender.

Flower color: blue/purple

Bloom: May, June, July

Bloom starts on: late May

Bloom ends on: early July

Fruit: capsule, ovoid to oblanceolate, slightly compressed, 12-18 mm long; seeds compressed, 5-6 mm long, brown, wing-margined.

Characteristics:
Frasera fastigiata (Pursh) A. Heller is the accepted name.
Swertia fastigiata in St. John 1963, and sometimes placed there in other treatments as well.
Reproduces sexually by seed.
Perennating organ is a caudex.
n=13.
Flowers are perfect.
Fruit is a capsule.

Sun requirement: partial shade, sometimes in full sun

Soil moisture: mesic

Sowing time: probably should be fall sown

Transplant time: probably spring

Stratification: probably required

Seed yield: information not available

Seed harvest: information not available

Seed first harvest: information not available

Seed cleaning: information not available

Planting duration: information not available

Seed insect problem: information not available

Seed shatter: information not available

Seed size: medium

Seed harvest date: information not available

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Key words: native upland perennial forb

Propagation:
No information is available. Seed probably requires cold moist stratification.
Reproduces sexually by seed.

References:
St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Outdoor Pictures. Escondido, CA.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium