Catchfly Gentian is also known as Seaside Gentian.

Plant is an upright annual that reaches heights of 20-30 inches. Stems are one to several, arising from a single root system; branched above. Preferred habitat is saline marshes or brackish waters near shoreline.

Leaves are oblong; about three inches; clasping; strongly possessing a waxy layer that easily rubs off (causes leaves and stems to be gray-green or bluish-green).

Flowers are on long stalks; bluish to lavender; cup-shaped; less than two inches wide; petals clawed at tip. Calyx lobes are broad at base; abruptly tapering to slender lobes about midway. Flowers occur in the summer.

The Catchfly Gentian creates large colonies in the brackish areas along old H-90 and 98 through the coastal region. Plant is virtually unseen or unheard of northward beyond Escambia County of Alabama.