While walking on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath, I noticed pink splotches of color in an otherwise mostly green field. It was a new wildflower to me that I don’t recall ever coming across before.

Its eye-catching display of pink, gold and magenta attracts the human eye as effectively as it attracts bees for pollination. What makes this flower unique is its central lime-green star, outlined in magenta.

This plant can grow up to three feet tall and has stout, square, smooth stems. Each Rose Gentian has many branches that can bear a multitude of flowers. It occurs naturally throughout much of the eastern United States.

It prefers low, moist areas at the edges of rocky, open woods and fields where it has exposure to the sun. It tends to grow in loose groups rather than tight clusters. Rose Gentian’s leaves are stalkless, opposite, and broad-oval to heart-shaped; they are about an inch and a half long.

After flowering, its flower stalks may become brown while its seed capsules remain green. The seed capsules, are about 1/3 inch long, lack internal partitions and contain many tiny seeds that can be wind dispersed or carried by moving water.

Rose Gentian’s scientific name is Sabatia angularis – it is named in honor of Liberatus Sabbati, an Italian botanist and gardener in the 1700s. Its flowers are sweet-scented and long-lasting.

Third Eye Herp
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