Autumn Gentian - Gentianella amarella

Alternative names
Felwort
Description

Low to short erect plant, simple or branched, the branches ascending. Leaves oval to lanceolate, the basal ones forming a distinct rosette. Flowers dull purple, blue, pink or whitish 14 to 22 mm long usually five parted.

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Provide photographs of the plant in its habitat, and details of flowers. (RPR)

Habitat

Open calcareous grassland, especially in old limestone quarries.

When to see it

Flowers June to October.

Life History

Annual or biennial.

UK Status

Widespread but local in Britain.

VC55 Status

Scarce and decreasing  in Leicestershire and Rutland, now almost confined to old limestone quarries in the east of the area. 

In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 4 of the 617 tetrads, and in the and in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971) in 9 tetrads.

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) as Locally Scarce (i.e. present in 4-10 sites)

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Autumn Gentian, Felwort
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Gentianales
Family:
Gentianaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
13
First record:
31/07/2016 (Grimes, Martin)
Last record:
19/09/2022 (lemmon, roy)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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