Small Fringed Gentian (Gentiana procera) 



# Fringed Gentian (Gentiana crinita) 

 Gentian Family (Gentianaceae) 



I can recall a trip on September 19, 1943, which I made to an 

 area along the borders of Gary and Hammond in Indiana, and 

 in that one morning seeing thousands and thousands of 

 fringed gentians (one specimen had 80 blossoms! ) . The area is 

 now largely built over, but this event will always remain indel- 

 ible in my memory. William Cullen Bryant wrote concerning 

 this beautiful plant: 



Thou waitest late and comest alone, 



When woods are bare and birds have flown, 



And the shortening days portend 



The aged year is near its end. 



"Ss Small Fringed Gentian (Gentiana procera) 

 Gentian Family (Gentianaceae) 



This is a lime-loving species, often associating with the grass 



of Parnassus (which see) and the bog lobelia. This plant is very 

 closely related to the gentian discussed above, and inter- 

 mediate specimens can be found. Again, in the poem "Sep- 

 tember" cited above, we read: 



The gentian's bluest fringes are curUng in the sun, 

 In dusky pods the milkweed its hidden silk has spun. 



# Prairie Gentian (Gentiana puberula) 

 Gentian Family (Gentianaceae) 



Also known as Gentiana puberulenta, this beautiful flower is 

 restricted to prairies with a history of fire. In my home town of 

 Villa Park, Illinois, this was one of the first flowers I ever 

 learned in walking through the adjacent prairie areas. John 

 Curtis, writing in The Vegetation of Wisconsin, states that it is 

 "by all odds the most beautiful member of this famed genus in 

 Wisconsin and at its best compares favorably with the species 

 from the high Himalayas that are so prized by rock gardeners." 



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