GENTIANACE^— GENTIAN FAMILY 



ROSE OF PLYMOUTH. MARSH-PINK. SABBATIA 



Sabhdtia stelldris 



Sabhatia, in honor of Sabbati, an Italian botanist. 



A native, annual or biennial plant, growing in the 

 salt meadows along the coast from Maine to Florida. 



Stem. — One to two feet high, erect, smooth. 



Leaves. — Alternate, lanceolate-oblong to linear, sessile; 

 the uppermost narrowly linear and bract-like, the lower 

 ones are broader. 



Flowers. — Rose-pink to white, solitary, about an inch 

 across. 



Cfl/3;.\:.— Campanulate, iive-lobed; lobes linear, shorter 

 or nearly equal to the corolla segments. 



Corolla. — Wheel-shaped, five-lobed, rose-pink to white, 

 with a yellowish, starry eye bordered with red; lobes, 

 oblong or obovate. 



Stamens. — Five, inserted on the tube of the corolla; 

 filaments threadlike, short; anthers curved. 



Pistil. — Ovary one-celled; style two-cleft. 



Fruit. — Capsule, many-seeded. 



Pollinated by flies and bees. Nectar-bearing. Sta- 

 mens mature before the stigmas. 



Three Sabbatias dwell in contentment along the 

 Atlantic coast, very similar in character and appear- 

 ance. ^ All bear five-pointed, starry flowers of a pink 

 that is born of the moisture-ladened air of the sea, 



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