220 



FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 



Fig. 189. The Paintroot {Spigelia Marylandica) one-half natural size. Original. 



celled, instead of 2-celled, ovary. There are about 65 genera and 600 

 species in this family, and they are very widely distributed. The plants 

 are mostly glabrous herbs, possessing bitter properties, many of them 

 valuable in the pharmacopoeia. The corolla is frequently persistent 

 after withering ; it is succeeded by a 2-valved capsule. 



The genus Gentiana embraces a large number of species, differing 

 widely in habit and in the color of their flowers. Many of them are 

 natives of alpine or mountainous regions, with flowers of great size and 

 beauty in proportion to the size of the plant. In the United States, two 

 of the most beautiful species are the western fringed gentian {G. elegans 

 Greene) and the pine-barren gentian (G. Porphyrio), the latter being par- 

 ticularly abundant throughout southern New Jersey (Fig. 190). In the 

 southern States the gentians are mostly replaced by species of Sabhatia, 

 which have pretty white or pink flowers. 



Family Menyanthaceae. Buckbean Family. These are perennial 

 or marsh herbs, formerly included in the Gentianaceae, but now sepa- 



