Class V. Order II. 105 



107. GENTIANA. 



GENTIANA SAPONARIA. L. Soapworf Gentian. 



Stem round ; leaves lanceolate-oval, three nerved ; 

 flowers sessile, fascicled, axillary and terminal ; co- 

 rollas ventricose, segments obtuse, inner folds toothed. 



A very fine plant, distinguished by its large purple flowers, 

 which are so nearly closed at the top as to resemble buds. 

 Stem erect, simple, smooth. Leaves opposite, oval-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, smooth, three and sometimes five nerved. Flowers 

 sessile in bunches at the top, and frequently on the sides in the 

 axils of the upper leaves. Corolla bell shaped, purple and white, 

 slightly five cleft, its segments subdivided and folded together 

 so as to close the mouth. Found in moist woods, Cambridge. 



O 



September, October.. Flowers sometimes white or variegated. 

 GENTIANA PNEUMONANTHE. L. Marsh Gentian. 



Stem round ; leaves linear lanceolate, rather ob- 

 tuse ; terminal flowers fascicled, lateral ones solitary ; 

 corollas five cleft, campanulate ; segments rounded ; 

 inner folds one toothed. 



Allied to the foregoing, but much more slender in all its parts, 

 besides the differences of character. Swamps near Portland. 

 August. 



Subgenus CROSSOPETALA, Corolla four cleft, hypocrate- 

 riform, throat nuked. 



GENTIANA CRINITA. Froel. Fringed Gentian. 



Corollas four cleft, the segments cut-ciliate ; leaves 

 lanceolate, acute ; stem erect, round. Froel. 



This gentian is exceeded by few native plants in the delicacy 

 and beauty of its flowers. The stems are divide 1 toward the top 

 into several erect branches. The leaves are opposite, ovate- 

 lanceolate, smaller than in the first species. Flowers erect, on 

 the ends of the branches, remote from the leaves. The stamens 

 are four in number, as are the segments of the calyx and corolla. 

 Calyx square with acute angles and segments. Segments of the 

 corolla of a deep fine purple, fringed at the end, expanded in 

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