Gentiana wingecarribiensis var. wissmannii, commonly known as New England gentian, is a variety of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae that is endemic to New South Wales, Australia.[1] It is a small, upright annual herb with blue flowers.
G. w. var. wissmannii is an upright, smooth, annual herb, high with simple or with 2-4 short, slender branches. The stem leaves are in pairs of 3-10, sessile, ovate to oblong-ovate, wider toward the stem, long, rough on the margins and sharp or rounded at the apex. The flowers are in clusters of 1-8, bell-shaped, slender, blue inside, greenish externally, tube long, lobes spreading long, translucent, jagged or pleated, and pointed or tapering to a point. The 4 or 5 sepals and petals are long, calyx lobes are lance to oblong-egg-shaped, long, pointed and faintly veined. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is an egg-shaped capsule long.[2] [3]
G. w. var. wissmannii was first formally described as a separate species in 1988 by John Beaumont Williams. The specific epithet (wissmannii) is in honour of Hans Wissmann.[4] [5] [6] Currently, it is classified as a variety of Gentiana wingecarribiensis.
This variety has a restricted distribution, growing on the edges of swamps near Ebor in New South Wales.
G. w. var. wissmannii is classified as "vulnerable" under the New South Wales Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.[7]