Gentiana flavida (Yellow Gentian)
| Also known as: | Cream Gentian, Pale Gentian, Plain Gentian |
|---|---|
| Genus: | Gentiana |
| Family: | Gentianaceae (Gentian) |
| Life cycle: | perennial |
| Origin: | native |
| Habitat: | part shade, sun; moist soil; open woods, meadows |
| Bloom season: | August - October |
| Plant height: | 1 to 3 feet |
| Wetland Indicator Status: | GP: FAC MW: FACU NCNE: FACU |
| MN county distribution (click map to enlarge): |  |
| National distribution (click map to enlarge): |  |
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Detailed Information
Flower: 
![[photo of flowers]](/udata/r9ndp23q/pd/gentiana-flavida-6-3.jpg)
The 1½ to 2-inch tubular yellowish white flowers form a stalkless cluster on the end of the stem but several flowers may also be produced in leaf axils in the upper plant. The petal tube faces up, the 5 short toothed lobes barely opening. The petals are covered in greenish yellow venation.
Leaves and stem:
![[photo of leaves]](/udata/r9ndp23q/white/cream-gentian_0916_095640.jpg)
Leaves are 2 to 5 inches long, 1 to 2 inches wide, broadly rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, tapered to a pointed tip, opposite except for a whorl of leaves just below the terminal flower cluster. The surfaces and edges smooth and glossy with 3 veins underneath, stalkless, the base of leaf pairs often touching. Stems are hairless and mostly unbranched.
Notes:
Similar to Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) which can sometimes be white but its flowers remain closed, the overlapping flower lobes are rounded with fine teeth at their tips. The leaves on Bottle Gentian are over-all smaller, 3-7 nerved, have rough edges, and the bases of leaf pairs do not touch. Yellow Gentian often goes by Latin name Gentiana alba, but the accepted name in Minnesota is G. flavida.
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More photos
Yellow Gentian plants
garden grown Yellow Gentian
more plantsPhotos by K. Chayka taken at Whitewater State Park. Photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk taken in Fillmore County and a private garden in Anoka County.
Comments
Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?
on: 2012-08-18 22:35:35
On trail around McDonough Lake
on: 2012-08-21 23:49:13
About 3 miles outside Preston, in a couple places on the edge of the forest road. A new flower for me!
on: 2014-08-21 20:50:42
I found about ten plants growing in a measure in River Bend Nature Center.
on: 2015-11-04 17:15:14
Located on the west side of the park.
on: 2016-07-11 09:35:21
I saw many on the Wedge Hill trail at William O'Brian.
on: 2016-08-23 18:43:19
On trails and roadsides within the park.
on: 2016-08-23 18:53:33
Janet, what you see in NW MN is a white form of bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii). G. flavida has a limited range in the SE quarter of the state. See the county distribution map.
on: 2016-08-25 16:59:53
I found the creamy gentian g. flavida growing in a pollinator planting, a prairie restoration that I planted back in 2010, date of siting was 8 24-2016. This species may have been present in the pollinator seed mix but was not labeled as being present in the seed mix. However it is most welcome.
on: 2017-08-17 21:56:42
These beauties are just starting to bloom...nice large colony growing halfway between Adams and Rose Creek...I noticed alot of leaf yellowing...whats that all about.
on: 2017-08-28 16:14:07
Many of them on a public hunting area.
on: 2018-01-18 19:22:15
I found a decent patch of this growing in a prairie area in Battle Creek Park last fall. Not sure if it was planted/restored or naturally occurring. Very different from the bluish bottle gentian in my native garden!
on: 2018-01-19 09:33:38
There is a colony in an old field in my backyard. They are not white Bottle Gentian, the flowers are not closed.
on: 2018-08-27 22:38:14
Many plants growing on full sun unmowed hill (25 yrs) on our property that also has goldenrod, coneflowers, monarda, yarrow, asters, clover, etc. that occurred naturally.
on: 2019-09-03 20:30:44
Several plants in a ditch along our section road. We've also had the purple/lavender variety. I took several pictures.
on: 2019-09-04 05:59:54
Vickie, this species isn't likely to be naturally occurring in Kittson County so what you more likely saw was a white form of the more common bottle gentian.
on: 2020-08-29 11:17:22
I think the ones I saw were Pale Gentian and not white variety of Bottle Gentian, flowers not as tightly closed as those of the Bottle Gentian. This is the first year I've noticed them in the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary / Wakan Tipi.
on: 2020-09-02 15:16:50
This area was a corn field in 1994. We planted bluestem grasses and wildflower plugs from WI and IA but no plain gentian to our knowledge. Several stems grow within an area of approximately twenty five square feet.In mid-August the blooming plant was identified through a photo sumitted to the app "Picture This".
on: 2021-08-28 15:51:24
There only appeared to be the one plant on the edge of their meadow.
on: 2021-08-29 15:31:28
Wind in the Pines. First visit since December 2015 though.
on: 2022-07-17 11:17:23
Growing in our prairie restoration in our yard. Has spread a lot in the past 5 years. Seed mix came from Prairie Restoration back in 2001. Not listed in their mix.
on: 2022-08-28 10:04:03
Roadsides Fairbanks Ave , blooming Aug 27, 2022
on: 2022-10-06 17:15:11
One plant alongside the walking trail in Lebanon Hills Park. Very distinctive flower buds.