GENTIAXACKAK 



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 3 ! "-5" long. 



3. C. pulchellum. 



4. C. e.valtatitm. 



5. C. texense. 



(1. ( '. calycosum. 



i. Centaurium spicatum (I..) Fernald. Spiked 

 Centaury. Fig. 3330. 

 Gentiana spicala L. Sp. PI. 230. 175.5. 

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

 Centaurium spicatum Fernald, Rhodora 10: 54. 1908. 



Annual, glabrous, erect, strict, usually branched, 6'-l8' 

 high. Leaves oblong or lar.ceolate-oblong, sessile, obtu.-ish 

 at the apex, clasping at the base, i' ii' long, 2"-y" 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. 1: 283. 1805. 



C. Centaurium W. F. Wight. Contr. Nat. Herb. 11 : 449. 1906. 



Annual, glabrous, erect, usually branched, 6'-lS' 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, 2j"-3" long, about as long as the 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. I: 283. 1805. 

 Erythraea pulchella Fries, Novit. 74. 1828. 

 C. pulchellum Druee, 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 l-2 times longer than the calyx- 

 segments, its lobes oblong, obtuse, li"-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. 



