Plant: annual herb; 25-50 cm tall; stems mostly unbranched

Leaves: obscurely 3-nerved; basal leaves less than 3.5 cm long, 6 mm wide, elliptic lanceolate to spatulate; cauline leaves remote, linear lanceolate, 1.5-4 cm long, 3.5 mm wide

INFLORESCENCE: loose, subumbellate cymes

Flowers: on slender pedicels, 0.5-3 cm long; calyx lobes lanceolate, to 6 mm long, papillate; corolla bright yellow, ca. 1-1.2 cm long, the tube less than 1/2 length of entire corolla; lobes ovate, papillate; spurs curved horizontal or ascending

Fruit: ovate lanceolate. SEEDS yellow-brown, subglobose, granular

Misc: Mountain meadows and open forests; 2150-3000 m (7000- 9900 ft); Jul-Sep

REFERENCES: Mason, Charles T. 1998 Gentianaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 30(2): 84.

General: Annual, 15-50 cm tall; stems erect, slender, mostly simple.

Leaves: Basal and cauline, opposite, simple, the basal blades elliptic-lanceolate to spatulate, up to 3.5 cm long, 6 mm wide, the cauline blades linear to linear-lanceolate, 1.5-4 cm long, 3.5 mm wide, surfaces glabrous, obscurely 3-veined, margins entire; blades nearly sessile or tapered to a short petiole.

Flowers: Inflorescence of axillary and terminal cymes, simple to compound, flowers few to many, 4-5 parted; pedicels 0.8- 2.5 cm long; calyx 4-11 mm long, the tube prominent to very reduced, margins of the lobes entire to minutely serrate; corolla tubular-campanulate, 9-16 mm long, bright yellow, the lobes 3-4 mm long, with a conspicuous fringe at the base of each lobe (sometimes absent in late-blooming plants); flowers June- September.

Fruits: Septicidal capsule, ovate-lanceolate, somewhat flattened; seeds numerous, nearly round, yellowish brown.

Ecology: Montane meadows, coniferous forests, often in rich, moist soils; 2100-3000 m (7000-10000 ft); Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Graham, Greenlee, and Navajo counties; southwestern U.S., northern Mexico.

Notes: The spurred nectariferous corolla that makes this species so distinctive separates Halenia from the other gentians in our area.

Editor: Springer et al. 2008; SBuckley 2018