Spurred Gentian

Halenia deflexa (Sm.) Griseb.

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Class
Dicotyledoneae (Dicots)
Family
Gentianaceae (Gentian Family)
State Protection
Endangered
Listed as Endangered by New York State: in imminent danger of extirpation in New York. For animals, taking, importation, transportation, or possession is prohibited, except under license or permit. For plants, removal or damage without the consent of the landowner is prohibited.
Federal Protection
Not Listed
State Conservation Status Rank
S1
Critically Imperiled in New York - Especially vulnerable to disappearing from New York due to extreme rarity or other factors; typically 5 or fewer populations or locations in New York, very few individuals, very restricted range, very few remaining acres (or miles of stream), and/or very steep declines.
Global Conservation Status Rank
G5
Secure globally - Common in the world; widespread and abundant (but may be rare in some parts of its range).
Contents
  1. Summary
  2. Conservation and Management
  3. Habitat
  4. Range
  5. Identification Comments
  6. Taxonomy
  7. Additional Resources
  8. About This Guide

Summary

State Ranking Justification

There are 5 verified occurrences, 11 historical occurrences.

Short-term Trends

Very few plants at the single site.

Conservation and Management

Threats

Little threat due to isolation of the occurrences.

Habitat

Habitat

In New York Spurred Gentian occurs on calcareous cliffs, ledges, and outcrops in cool (often shaded) micro-climates. All of the known, extant sites in the state are along rivers (New York Natural Heritage Program 2011). Moist to wet, cool woods, bogs (Haines 1998). Cedar swamps; woods and thickets of spruce, fir, cedar, less often pine and aspen; frequently in springy, mossy places and often especially common at the borders of coniferous woods (as along shores); occasionally in fens and borrow pits (Voss 1996). Moist or wet woods and bogs (Gleason and Cronquist 1991).

Associated Ecological Communities

  • Calcareous cliff community (guide)
    A community that occurs on vertical exposures of resistant, calcareous bedrock (such as limestone or dolomite) or consolidated material; these cliffs often include ledges and small areas of talus.
  • Calcareous shoreline outcrop (guide)
    A community that occurs along the shores of lakes and streams on outcrops of calcareous rocks such as limestone and dolomite. The vegetation is sparse; most plants are rooted in rock crevices.
  • Limestone woodland (guide)
    A woodland that occurs on shallow soils over limestone bedrock in non-alvar settings, and usually includes numerous rock outcrops. There are usually several codominant trees, although one species may become dominant in any one stand.
  • Riverside ice meadow (guide)
    A meadow community that occurs on gently sloping cobble shores and rock outcrops along large rivers in areas where winter ice floes are pushed up onto the shore, forming an ice pack that remains until late spring. The ice scours the meadow, cutting back woody plants.

Associated Species

  • Carex buxbaumii (brown bog sedge)
  • Carex flava (yellow sedge)
  • Carex hystericina (porcupine sedge)
  • Climacium
  • Cystopteris bulbifera (bulblet fern)
  • Dicranum
  • Fragaria vesca
  • Graphephorum melicoides (melic-oats)
  • Houstonia caerulea (common bluets, Quaker-ladies)
  • Lobelia kalmii (Kalm's lobelia)
  • Mnium
  • Prunella vulgaris
  • Scapania
  • Symphyotrichum undulatum (wavy-leaved-aster)
  • Thuidium
  • Thuja occidentalis (northern white cedar, arbor vitae)
  • Triantha glutinosa (sticky false asphodel)

Range

New York State Distribution

East central New York to the Delaware River.

Identification Comments

Best Time to See

The best time to see Spurred Gentian is when it is flowering, in late July or August.

  • Flowering
  • Fruiting

The time of year you would expect to find Spurred Gentian flowering and fruiting in New York.

Taxonomy

Spurred Gentian
Halenia deflexa (Sm.) Griseb.

  • Kingdom Plantae
    • Phylum Anthophyta
      • Class Dicotyledoneae (Dicots)
        • Order Gentianales
          • Family Gentianaceae (Gentian Family)

Additional Resources

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.

Holmgren, Noel. 1998. The Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual. Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.

New York Natural Heritage Program. 2023. New York Natural Heritage Program Databases. Albany, NY.

Weldy, T. and D. Werier. 2010. New York flora atlas. [S.M. Landry, K.N. Campbell, and L.D. Mabe (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research http://www.fccdr.usf.edu/. University of South Florida http://www.usf.edu/]. New York Flora Association http://newyork.plantatlas.usf.edu/, Albany, New York

Zaremba, Robert E. 1991. Corrections to phenology list of April 9, 1991.

Links

About This Guide

Information for this guide was last updated on: August 9, 2011

Please cite this page as:
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2023. Online Conservation Guide for Halenia deflexa. Available from: https://guides.nynhp.org/spurred-gentian/. Accessed October 3, 2023.