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Halenia deflexa
Also called Northern Spurred Gentian, Spurred Gentian
Halenia deflexa, also known as green gentian or spurred gentian, is a plant in the gentian family (Gentianaceae). This species grows in wetlands and moist forests across much of the northern United States and Canada. Its common names refer to the prominent spurs on its mostly green flowers, a feature common to all species in the genus Halenia. These spurs bear nectar to attract insect pollinators, especially bumblebees, but the flowers are also self-compatible and frequently self-fertilize.
Halenia deflexa flowers are self-compatible, meaning that they can fertilize themselves without the aid of pollinators. However, their nectar spurs also attract insect pollinators to help with outcrossing. The frequency of insect pollination decreases over the course of the flowering period, and late-season flowers mostly self-pollinate. Bumblebees, whose long probosces easily access nectar in the flower spurs, are the primary pollinators of H. deflexa. In the mornings, after the plants have refreshed the nectar supplies, hoverflies, which have shorter probosces, can also access the nectar; hoverflies account for approximately ten percent of insect pollination of H. deflexa.
Halenia longicaulis · Halenia minima · Halenia pulchella · Halenia serpyllifolia · Halenia taruga-gasso · Deer's Antlers · Spurred gentian
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Halenia deflexa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
