GENTIAN FAMILY 



Corolla. — Beautiful blue with violet tints, narrowly 

 bell-shaped, one and a half to two inches high, foui- 

 parted, the obovate spreading lobes fringed around the 

 edge. These lobes are very sensitive, opening widest 

 in clear, direct sunlight, and closing at night with a 

 curious little twist. 



Stamens. — Four, inserted on the tube of the corolla, 

 included. 



Pistil. — Ovary one-celled; stigma two-cleft; ovules 

 many. PoUinated by bees. 



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October: Somewhere, now, the Fringed Gentian is 

 blooming. Because it is one of the most beautiful it has 

 become one of the rarest of our native wild flowers. Whoso 

 sees it destroys it. It is an annual, wholly dependent on 

 its seed for propagation, and each blossom that is plucked 

 brings the fringed gentian a little nearer to extermination. 



"There are many lovers of the open who have sought 

 year after year for the fringed gentian. Their search has 

 never been rewarded, and they have become quite certain 

 that it never will be rewarded. But each year they go 

 forth to seek, finding pleasure in the quest of the unat- 

 tainable. Sometime, somewhere, they may by merest 

 chance come upon the more than heavenly blue of the 

 priceless jewel of the autumn. 



"The fame of the gentian is, therefore, Indirectly bene- 

 ficial. It is one more reason for an outing in the year's 

 best outing time. 



"The tragedy of the gentian should teach a practical 

 lesson. To destroy a thing merely because it is beautiful 

 is the worst tribute to nature's excellence. Very few 



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