SPECIES:  Gentiana propinqua

• Introductory
• Distribution and Occurrence
• Management Considerations
• Botanical and Ecological Characteristics
• Fire Ecology
• Fire Effects
• References

Introductory
SPECIES: Gentiana propinqua



AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Williams, Tara Y. 1990. Gentiana propinqua. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). 
Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [].




ABBREVIATION : 
GENPRO

SYNONYMS : 
   Amarella propinqua Greene
   Gentiana arctophila Griseb.
   Gentiana rurikiana Cham. & Schlecht.
   Gentianella propinqua (Richards.) Gillett.


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   GEPR5


COMMON NAMES : 
   four-parted gentian


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name of four-parted gentian is
Gentiana propinqua Richards.


LIFE FORM : 
Forb

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
USFS Region 4 Status:  ID - Sensitive [14].

Four-parted gentian is rare in Montana [9].  It is apparently secure
globally but critically imperiled in Idaho [14].

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Gentiana propinqua



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Four-parted gentian occurs from Alaska to Quebec and Newfoundland.  It
extends south in the Rocky Mountains to British Columbia, Alberta,
Montana, and Idaho [4].  It also occurs in Asia [13].

Occurrence in Glacier National Park:  Piegan Pass and head of Lunch
Creek below Pollack Mountain [8,13].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES37  Mountain meadows
   FRES44  Alpine


STATES : 
     AK  ID  MT  AB  BC  NF  ON  PQ  SK  YT



BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   8  Northern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K052  Alpine meadows and barren


SAF COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
NO-ENTRY

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Gentiana propinqua





IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
NO-ENTRY


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Gentiana propinqua



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Four-parted gentian is a native annual that grows 1 to 6 inches (3-15
cm) tall.  The basal leaves grow up to 1 inch (5-20 mm) long, the
cauline leaves 0.5 to 1.5 inches (1-4 cm) long.  The sympetalous flowers
have a pale bluish-purple corolla.  The upper flowers are 0.5 to 1 inch
(15-22 mm) across, and the lower flowers are about half that size.  The
capsule contains pale yellow seeds less than 1 mm in diameter [4,13].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Therophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Four-parted gentian reproduces by seed sexually produced by pollination
and fertilization [4].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Four-parted gentian grows in forests, meadows, along streambanks, and on
dry, open, rocky slopes [4,5,13].  It is a calciphile which grows in
sedge tussocks in arctic tundra [11].  Four-parted gentian occurs at
elevations ranging from 8,000 to 10,00 feet (2,580-3,225 m) in Montana
[9] and 2,200 to 2,730 feet (710-880 m) in Alaska [2].  Associates
include fescues (Festuca spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), fireweed (Epilobium
angustifolium), and shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) [2,11].
 


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Initial Community Species

Four-parted gentian is a colonizer in early succession [11].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Four-parted gentian flowers from June through August in the Pacific
Northwest and Montana [4,8].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Gentiana propinqua



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Gentiana propinqua



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Four-parted gentian will readily colonize recently burned areas [11].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Gentiana propinqua



REFERENCES : 

 .  Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
       reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
       associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
       U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. 
       [434]

 .  Edwards, M. E.; Armbruster, W. S. 1989. A tundra-steppe transition on
       Kathul Mountain, Alaska, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research. 21(3):
       296-304.  [9673]

 .  Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
       1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
       ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p.  [998]

 .  Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur; Ownbey, Marion. 1959. Vascular
       plants of the Pacific Northwest. Part 4: Ericaceae through
       Campanulaceae. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 510 p. 
       [1170]

 .  Hulten, Eric. 1968. Flora of Alaska and neighboring territories.
       Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1008 p.  [13403]

 .  Kartesz, John T.; Kartesz, Rosemarie. 1980. A synonymized checklist of
       the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Volume
       II: The biota of North America. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North
       Carolina Press; in confederation with Anne H. Lindsey and C. Richie
       Bell, North Carolina Botanical Garden. 500 p.  [6954]

 .  Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
       of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
       American Geographical Society. 77 p.  [1384]

 .  Lesica, Peter. 1984. Rare vascular plants of Glacier National Park,
       Montana. Missoula, MT: University of Montana, Department of Botany. 27
       p.  [12049]

 .  Lesica, P.; Moore, G.; Peterson, K. M.; Rumely, J. H. (Montana Rare
       Plant Project). 1984. Vascular plants of limited distribution in
       Montana. Monograph No. 2. Montana Academy of Sciences, Supplement to the
       Proceedings, Volume 43. Bozman, MT: Montana State University, Montana
       Academy of Sciences. 61 p.  [11656]

.  Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
       Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
       Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p.  [20090]

.  Racine, Charles H.; Johnson, Lawrence A.; Viereck, Leslie A. 1987.
       Patterns of vegetation recovery after tundra fires in northwestern
       Alaska, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research. 19(4): 461-469.  [6114]

.  Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
       geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p.  [2843]

.  Standley, Paul C. 1921. Flora of Glacier National Park, Montana.
       Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Vol. 22, Part
       5. Washington, DC: United States National Museum, Smithsonian
       Institution: 235-438.  [12318]

.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Region.
       1990. Idaho and Wyoming endangered and sensitive plant field guide.
       Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain
       Region. 192 p.  [9055]

.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
       National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
       SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p.  [11573]