Frasera caroliniensis
species of plant
Frasera caroliniensis, commonly known as American columbo or yellow gentian, is a herbaceous perennial of the gentian family Gentianaceae found in the deciduous forest of Southern Ontario and throughout the eastern and southeastern United States. It was previously known as Swertia caroliniensis.
Description
American columbo is a monocarpic perennial, meaning it flowers once after multiple seasons, and then dies. When it reaches the flowering stage, the 3 – 6 inch lanceolate leaves develop (usually in whorls of four) on a round elongated stem, and approximately 50 to 100 flowers will develop a panicle, with the fruits maturing soon after. The flowers that it produces are about 1 inch in diameter and folious (tall and "spike"-like), green to yellow with purple speckles. It is a perfect and complete flower, with four stamens and two carpels.
The oblong-shaped seed capsule has a brownish color and is about 1/2 inch long.
The entire plant can reach heights over 2 metres (7 ft). Though it is monocarpic, the plant may live for up to 30 years before flowering.
The roots of F. caroliniensis are a taproot system, with a thick and fleshy taproot, and in some Frasera species, this may be modified into a branched rhizome.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Frasera caroliniensis” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Frasera, caroliniensis and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5493722. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Frasera caroliniensis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.