About Gentiana cruciata L.
Gentiana cruciata L. is a small-sized hemicryptophyte scapose plant, growing to an average height of 20 to 40 centimeters (7.9 to 15.7 inches). It produces erect stems, and its large leaves are ovate-lanceolate, semiamplexicaul, and measure roughly 3 to 8 centimeters (1.2 to 3.1 inches) long. Its flowers are violet-blue trumpet-shaped blooms with 4 petals, clustered in the axils of the plant's upper leaves. Its flowering period runs from June to August. The flowers are hermaphroditic and are pollinated by insects in a process called entomogamy. The plant produces a capsule as its fruit, and its seeds are dispersed only by gravity, a dispersal method known as barochory. Gentiana cruciata is widespread across most of Europe, excluding Portugal, Great Britain, and Scandinavia, and also grows in Western Asia. This species prefers dry calcareous soil in forest edges, bushy slopes, pastures, grasslands, and dry meadows, growing at altitudes between 200 and 1,600 meters (660 and 5,250 feet) above sea level.
