GENTIAXACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



Flowers short-pedicelled ; naturalized species. 

 Flowers slender-pedicelled ; native western species. 



Leaves oblong to linear-oblong. 



Upper leaves mere subulate bracts. 

 Corolla-lobes 3K"-5" long. 



3. C. pulchellum. 



4. C. exaltatum. 



5. C. iexcnse. 



6. C. calycosiim. 



i. Centaurium spicatum (L.) Fernald. Spiked 



Centaury. Fig. 3330. 

 Gentiana spicata L. Sp. PI. 230. 1753. 

 Erythraea spicata Pers. Syn. i: 283. 1805. 

 Centaurium spicatum Fernald, Rhodora 10 : 54. 1908. 



Annual, glabrous, erect, strict, usually branched, 6'-i8' 

 high. Leaves oblong or lanceolate-oblong, sessile, obtusish 

 at the apex, clasping at the base, i'-ii' long, 2"-"" wide; 

 flowers pink, sessile, distant and spicate-racemose on the 

 mostly simple and leafless branches, about 8" long; tube of 

 the corolla somewhat longer than the subulate calyx-seg- 

 ments, 2-3 times as long as the linear-oblong lobes ; capsule 

 4"-5" long. 



Coast of Nantucket, and at Portsmouth, Va. Naturalized 

 from Europe. May-Sept. 



2. Centaurium Centaurium (L.) W. F. Wight. 



Lesser or European Centaury. Bitter-herb. 



Blood wort. Fig. 3331. 



Gentiana Centaurium L. Sp. PI. 229. 1753. 



Erythraea Centaurium Pers. Syn. i : 283. 1805. 



C. Centaurium W. F. Wight, Contr. Nat. Herb, u : 449. 1906. 



Annual, glabrous, erect, usually branched, 6'-i5' high. 

 Leaves oblong, apex obtuse, the base narrowed; the lower 

 forming a basal tuft, i'-2$' long, 3"-6" wide; stem leaves 

 smaller, distant, rounded at the sessile or slightly clasping 

 base ; flowers numerous, 6"-8" long, nearly sessile, in com- 

 pound terminal mostly dense bracteolate cymes ; corolla- 

 lobes obtuse, 2$"-3" long, about as long as trie calyx-seg- 

 ments and one-third to one-half as long as the corolla- 

 tube; stigmas oval. 



In waste places, Nova Scotia and Quebec to Massachusetts, 

 Illinois and Michigan. Naturalized from Europe. Earth-gall. 



Sanctuary. June-Sept. 



3. Centaurium pulchellum (Sw.) Druce. Branching Centaury. Fig. 3332. 



Gentiana pulchella Sw. Act. Holm. 1783: 84. /. 8, 9. 1783. 

 Gentiana ramosissima Vill. Hist. PI. Dauph. 2: 530. 1787. 

 Erythraea ramosissima Pers. Syn. 1 : 283. 1805. 

 Erythraea pulchella Fries, Novit. 74. 1828. 

 C. pulchellum Druce, Fl. Oxf. 342. 1897. 



Annual, glabrous, much branched, 3'-8' high. Leaves 

 oval, ovate or lanceolate, the lower mostly obtuse, 3"-8" 

 long, the upper usually acutish or acute and smaller; 

 no basal tuft of leaves ; flowers pink, cymose-paniculate, 

 all or nearly all of them short-pedicelled, 5"-6" long; 

 tube of "the corolla ii-2 times longer than the calyx- 

 segments, its lobes oblong, obtuse, ii"-2" long; stigma 

 oval ; anthers oblong. 



In fields and waste places, southern New York to Penn- 

 sylvania, Illinois and Maryland ; also in the West Indies. 

 Naturalized from Europe. June-Sept. 



