Victorin’s gentian COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 3

Species Information

Name and classification

Scientific name:
Gentianopsis procera (Th. Holm) Ma ssp. macounii (Th. Holm) Iltis var. victorinii (Fern.) Iltis
Pertinent synonyms:
Gentiana victorinii Fern; Gentianella crinita (Froel.) G. Don ssp. victorinii (Fern.) J.M. Gillett; Gentianopsis victorinii (Fernald) Iltis
French names:
gentiane de Victorin, gentianopsis de Victorin, gentianopsis élancé variété de Victorin
English name:
Victorin's fringed gentian, Victorin’s gentian
Family name:
Gentianaceae

Victorin’s gentian has undergone several taxonomic changes since it was described by Fernald (1923). Gillett (1957, 1963) placed it in the genus Gentianella, separate from Gentiana in the strict sense. He defined all taxa of northeastern North America as subspecies of Gentianella crinita and created the subspecies victorinii (Fern.) Gillett. He based his taxonomic classification primarily on the species’ exceptional habitat, its morphological characters being considered intermediate between the subspecies procera, macounii and crinita. In 1963, Gillet provided a more precise description of the morphological differences between the members of the Gentianella crinita complex and, in his key, the subspecies victorinii is associated with the subspecies macounii. Scoggan (1979) adopts Gillet’s taxonomy. Iltis (1965) believed that fringed gentians belong to the genus Gentianopsis of Ma (1951), which is corroborated by the molecular phylogenetic studies of Yuan and Kupfer (1995). Because Ma had not carried out all taxonomic transfers, Iltis created the missing combinations in the genus Gentianopsis, including Gentianopsis victorinii(Fern.) Iltis. Iltis suggested that only two species be retained in the first group: Gentianopsis crinita and the highly variable Gentianopsis procera. Iltis believed that the differences between the populations of the taxa that he associated with Gentianopsis procera were minor compared to the differences with Gentianopsis crinita. In his opinion, Gentianopsis victorinii does not differ significantly from Gentianopsis procera, although it shows greater uniformity for the characters measured and its habit appears to be different. Mason and Iltis (1965) created a combination that better reflects this taxonomic opinion: Gentianopsisprocera (Th. Holm) Ma ssp. macounii (Th. Holm) Iltis var. victorinii (Fern.) Iltis. Kartesz (1994) ignores the work of Iltis and recognizes Gentianopsis victorinii as a valid taxon. In this report, as in the Province of Quebec, the position is to adopt the classification of Mason and Iltis (1965) until more detailed studies are conducted to clarify the matter.

Typical Gentianopsis procera (ssp. procera) occurs primarily within the Great Lakes region and mid-western states from, in the USA, New York south to Illinois and westward to South Dakota and North Dakota, with an outlier in Colorado. Its ranking is under review in 6 states, is critically imperiled in NY, imperiled in SD and vulnerable in Iowa and Wisconsin. In Canada it is found in Ontario and Manitoba where it is apparently secure (NatureServe 2004). The ssp. macounii is a widespread taxon occurring in the USA mainly in the midwestern states of Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota where its rank is under review; it is unrankable in Minnesota and Nebraska and unrankable in Nevada in the southwestern USA. In Canada, this subspecies ranges from Quebec to British Columbia and possibly the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory. It is critically imperiled in Quebec, but apparently secure in Ontario, Manitoba and possibly Saskatchewan, and between vulnerable and critically imperiled in British Columbia with unrankable status in Alberta, Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territory. Overall in Canada, due to its primary distribution and relatively secure status extending from Ontario to Saskatchewan, the subspecies is likely at limited risk. The variety victorinii is a distinctive entity within ssp. macounii that is recognized by some authors at the species level and is endemic to the intertidal habitat of the St. Lawrence estuary.

Description

Herbaceous annual or biennial, 10–50 cm high, emerging from a small pivoting root, relatively unbranched (Figure 1). Stem glabrous, cylindrical at the base, becoming hexagonal in the centre, simple or branched 1–2 times. Stem leaves somewhat fleshy, linear-lanceolate, asymmetric, acute summit, sessile, opposite, 1–6 cm long; basal leaves spatulate, in 1–4 pairs in rosette. Flowers 1–30, on a quadrangular, ribbed peduncle; calyx herbaceous, formed of 4 sepals cleft on nearly half their length, 2 lanceolate, the other 2 ovate and shorter; corolla 3.5–4.5 cm long at maturity, formed by 4 purplish petals, cleft on 3/5 their length and terminating in a lobe; lobes rolled, horn-shaped at the preflowering stage, then spreading, finely dentate on summit and very slightly lacerate at the margin. Fruit: a capsule 3–3.8 cm long, opening at maturity. Seeds brown, approximately 400 per fruit (Coursol, 2001).

Figure 1. Photograph of Victorin’s gentian in its habitat at Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures.

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