Centaurium spicatum

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Gentianaceae

Herbs [shrubs or small trees ], annual , biennial, or perennial . Stems ascending , erect , or twining . Leaves opposite, less often alternate or whorled , simple , base connate ; stipules absent. Inflorescences simple or complex cymes, sometimes reduced to sessile clusters , often in a thyrse or 1-flowered. Flowers bisexual , rarely unisexual , 4 or 5 (or 6-8) [-12]-merous. Calyx tubular , obconic, campanulate , or rotate, lobes joined at least basally. Corolla tubular, obconic, salverform , funnelform , campanulate, or rotate, rarely with basal spurs; lobes overlapping to right or rarely valvate in bud; plicae (extensions of the corolla tube between the lobes) present or absent. Stamens inserted on corolla tube or occasionally at sinus between corolla lobes, alternate with lobes; anthers basifixed or dorsifixed , 2-locular. Nectaries absent or attached to ovary base or corolla. Ovary usually 1-locular at least apically, rarely 2-locular due to intrusion of a lamellate placenta into locular cavity . Fruit a 2-valved capsule, rarely a berry. Seeds many or rarely few, small; endosperm abundant [scant in saprophytic genera].

About 80 genera and 700 species: worldwide; 20 genera and 419 species in China, of which two genera and 251 species are endemic.[1]

Genus Centaurium

Annuals . Stems erect , obscurely 4angled. Leaves opposite. Cymes pseudodichotomous , sometimes spicate . Flowers [4 or] 5merous. Calyx lobed nearly to base . Corolla salverform , lobes shorter than tube . Stamens inserted at throat of corolla tube; filaments filiform , erect at first, helically coiled later; anthers dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary partly 2-locular. Style linear ; stigma lobes orbicular . Capsules 2valved, many seeded. Seed coat alveolate .

40-50 species: worldwide except subsaharan Africa; two species in China.[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,026 meters (0 to 3,366 feet).[3]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Annual , Biennial

Taxonomy

Notes

Basionym : Gentianaceae Gentiana spicata L.

Basionym author: (L.)

Basionym: Gentianaceae Gentiana spicata L.

Basionym author: (L.)

Basionym: Gentianaceae Gentiana spicata L.

Basionym author: (L.)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Centaurium

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 30 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. arizonicum (Arizona Centaury) · C. beyrichii (Mountain Pink) · C. beyrichii var. beyrichii (Quinineweed) · C. breviflorum (Shortflower Centaury) · C. calycosum (Arizona Centaury) · C. calycosum var. calycosum (Arizona Centaury) · C. confertum (Centaury) · C. davyi (Davy's Centaury) · C. erythraea (Bitter Herb) · C. erythraea erythraea (European Centaury) · C. erythraea var. capitatum (European Centaury) · C. exaltatum (Desert Centaury) · C. glanduliferum (Sticky Centaury) · C. littorale (Seaside Centaury) · C. littorale var. glomeratum (Seaside Centaury) · C. maryannum (Gypsum Centaury) · C. muehlenbergii (June Centaury) · C. multicaule (Many-Stem Centaury) · C. namophilum (Spring Loving Centaury) · C. nudicaule (Santa Catalina Centaurium) · C. pulchellum (Branched Centaury) · C. quitense (Britton's Centaury) · C. sebaeoides (Awiwi) · C. spicatum (Spiked Centaury) · C. tenuiflorum (Slender Centaury) · C. texense (Lady Bird's Centaury) · C. trichanthum (Alkali Centaury) · C. venustum (Canchalagua Centaury) · C. venustum venustum (Canchalagua) · C. venustum subsp. abramsii (Charming Centaury)

More Info

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• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions: from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102nd meridian / by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Hon. Addison Brown. New York: Scribner, 1913. url p. 2.
• Field book of American wild flowers; being a short description of their character and habits, a concise definition of their colors, and incidental references to the insects which assist in their fertilization, by F. Schuyler Mathews. 1912 New York, Putnam, [1912] url fig. 178, p. 353, p. 574.
• Flora of Delaware and the Eastern Shore: an annotated list of the ferns and flowering plants of the peninsula of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. [Wilmington]: Society of Natural History of Delaware, 1946. url p. 206.
• Flora of the U.S.S.R. [Springfield, Va.: Israel Program for Scientific Translations; 1968- url p. 388, p. 391.
• Nantucket wild flowers / by Alice O. Albertson; illustrated by Anne Hinchman. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's sons, 1921. url p. 304, p. viii.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url p. 163, p. 254.
• The contemporary land mammals of Egypt (including Sinai) / Dale J. Osborn, Ibrahim Helmy. 5 1980 [Chicago]: Field Museum of Natural History, 1980. url fig. 21 , p. 49.
• Ho Ting-nung; Liu Shang-wu, & Wu Ching-ju in Ho Ting-nung, ed. 1988. Gentianaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 62: 1-411.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 16, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 26, 2008)

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 28, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• European Environment Agency, EUNIS
• GBIF-Spain, Botánica, Universidad de León: LEB-Cormo
• GBIF-Spain, Dirección General de Investigación, Desarrollo Tecnológico e Innovación de la Junta de Extremadura(DGIDTI): HSS
• GBIF-Spain, Hortus Botanicus Sollerensis Herbarium
• GBIF-Spain, Jardín Botánico de Córdoba: Herbarium COA
• GBIF-Spain, Universidad de Almería, HUAL
• GBIF-Spain, Universidad de Oviedo. Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas: FCO
• Israel Nature and Parks Authority, Israel Nature and Parks Authority
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Lund Botanical Museum
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2653244
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-30037
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13749327
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:57301-3
• GRIN Nomen Number: 446809
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 30037
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 366724-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDGEN020E0
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: CESP3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 29480

Footnotes

1. Ting-nung Ho & James S. Pringle "Gentianaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Centaurium". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 4. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. Mean = 229.120 meters (751.706 feet), Standard Deviation = 226.360 based on 181 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.