''Frasera puberulenta'' (

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

''Swertia puberulenta'') is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name Inyo frasera. It is native to the High

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, as well as the Inyo Mountains and White Mountains of eastern California, where its distribution extends just over the border into

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. It grows in dry mountain woodlands.

Description

''Frasera puberulenta'' is a perennial herb producing several lightly hairy stems 10 to 30 centimeters long. The leaves are green with white margins and have fuzzy hairs on the undersides. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is an open

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

of flowers atop the stem. Each flower has a calyx of four pointed

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s and a corolla of four pointed lobes each roughly a centimeter long. The corolla is greenish with purple dots, and each lobe has a fringe of hairs near the base. There are four

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s tipped with large anthers and a central

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Frasera puberulenta''''Frasera puberulenta'' — U.C. Photo gallery
puberulenta Flora of Nevada Flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of the Great Basin Natural history of Inyo County, California • Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Gentianales-stub