| Author | L. | |
| Distribution | Generally throughout the Piedmont and southern Mountains; scattered in the northern Coastal Plain.
This is an Eastern to Southeastern species, found from PA and IN south to northern FL and LA. | |
| Abundance | Fairly common in the Piedmont, and in much of the southern Mountains. Uncommon in the northern and central Coastal Plain, south to Jones County. May be absent from the northern Mountains, and definitely absent from the southern Coastal Plain. | |
| Habitat | This species favors upland hardwood or mixed forests, only widely scattered and not growing in colonies. It seldom is found in rich woods, lower slopes, or in bottomlands. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from late August to November, and fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is a gentian that is quite different from others, in that it has dark green, leathery leaves that are oblanceolate or obovate, with the widest part above the middle of the leaf, tapering to the base. There are several paired leaves on the stem, which grows about 1-1.5 feet tall. The flower cluster at the top of the stem has pale greenish-white to dull white corollas, striped purple on the inside, and the flowers somewhat closed to somewhat open. In nearly all of the state, this is the only white-flowered gentian, and the dark green leaves that are widest above the middle are unique with the NC gentians. When walking through an upland forest in late summer or fall, you may encounter this species, often just the stem without flowers. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
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| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G4 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
