GENTIANA CATESB.EI. 
Blue Gentian. 
PLATE XXXIV. 
Lam indebted to the late Dr. Macbride, of 
- Charleston, S. C. for my specimens of this me- 
dicinal plant, and for a quantity of its root in 
preservation. Many of the perennial species of 
Gentian have a great degree of bitterness in the 
root, and among these the Gentiana lutea, or com- 
mon imported Gentian of the shops, stands pre- 
eminent. Of the American species, several bear 
great resemblance in taste and effect to the Euro- 
pean plant. No one, however, which I have ex- 
amined approaches so near to the officinal root in 
bitterness, as the species which is the subject of 
this article. This species was formerly con- 
founded with the Gentiana saponaria, a fine au- 
tumnal plant, common in the Northern and Mid- 
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