450 



C. GENTIANACEiE. 



Sasbatu. 



Order C. GENTIANACE^. 



Plants herbaceous, rarely shrubby, generally Btnooth, sometimes twining. Juice colorless. 



Lvs. oppo'iite, entire and smooth. Slip. 0. 



Fls. conspicuous, terminal or axillary, reg-ular or sometimes irregular. 



Cal. — Sepals 4 — 5 — 10, united at base, persistent. 



Cor. usually regular, limb divided into as many lobes as there are sepals, mostly twisted in aestivation. 



Sla. issuing from the tube of the corolla, as 

 many as its lobes and alternate with 

 them. 

 Ova. 1-celled, sometimes rendered appar- 

 ently 2-celJed by the introflexed pla- 

 centiE. 

 Sty. united into 1, or wanting. Stig. 1—2. 

 Pr. Capsule many-seeded. Seeds small. 

 Umbryo straight, with fleshy albu- 

 men. 



Genera 60, species 450, found in every 

 part of the world. 



Properties.— Xn intensely bitter princi- 

 ple, called gentianine, pervades the whole 

 ord,er without e.\ception, residing in every 

 part, rendering them tonic and febrifugal. 

 The gentian of the ^ops is most com- 

 monly the product of Gentiana lutea, but 

 almost any of our species may be substitut- 

 ed for it. (Dr. Gray.) In the other genera 

 of the order, the buck-bean (Menyanthcs 

 trifoliata), Limnantheraum nyraphoides, 

 Sabbatia angularis, Frasera Carolinensis, 

 &c., are valued in medicine for the same 

 properties. Many are cultivated for orna- 

 ment. 



FIG. 53.— 1. Gentiana Saponaria. 2. The 

 caly.x and capside. 3. The corolla laid 

 open, showing the folds (2-lobed) between 

 the proper petals, and the stamens attached 

 at base. 4. CapsiUe cut across. 5. Seed 

 magnified, with its large, loose testa. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



i Petals 5, or 4 and fringed. . Gentiana. 5 



i Anthers < Pet. 4, 4 Sep. 4, subulate. . Cicendia. 3 



< straight. ( entire. ( Sep. 2, leaf-like. . Obolaria. 4 



( tubular. ( Anthers spirally twisted. . . . Erylhrcea. 2 



( Corolla with- < < Petals with no gland. . . . Sabbatia. 1 



< out horns, . . ( rotate. ( Petals with a glandular pit. . . Swertia. 8 



("opposite. ( Corolla without 4 homs at base Halenia. 7 



I verticillate in whorls of 4s, 5s and 6s Frasera. 9 



{ none, or reduced to small opposite scales Centaurella. 6 



J simple, floating in water Limnanthemv/m. 10 



Leaves Valtemate and radical, (trifoliate Menyanthes. 11 



Tribe 1. Corolla imbricate from right to left in estivation. Testa of the seed 



membranaceous. Terrestrial herbs with opposite leaves. 



1. SABBATIA. Allans. 



. In honor of Sabbati, a distinguished Italian botanical author. 



Calyx 5 — 12-parted; corolla, rotate, limb 5 — 12-parted ; stamens 

 5( — 12) ; anthers erect, at length recurved, 2-celled, cells distinct ; 

 stigma 2-parted, with spiral diA^sions ; capsule 1-celled, the valves 

 a little introflexed. — (D Slendcrjierbx, with pedicdlate., mostly '-oseatefls. 

 Native of the temperate regions 'of North America. 



1. S. GRACILIS. Salisb. (S. campanulata. Torr. Chironia. Linn.) 



St. slightly angular, internodes twice longer than the leaves; brancka, 

 alternate, spreading; lvs. linear and lance-linear, the lowest lance-ovate; 'pani- 

 cle few-floM'ered ; cal. segments linear-setaceous, about equaling the corolla ; 

 ccn-. 5-parted, lobes elliptic-oblong, obtuse. — Wet meadows, Penn. to Flor., W. 

 to K}'. Stem a foot high, with long, diverging branches. Flowers terminal, 

 subsolitar}', purple, on long peduncles. Jul)^, Aug. 



2. S. coRYMBos.i. Baldwin. (S. panicnlata. a. Ph. Chironia. Walter. 

 Swertia. Linn.) — St. slightly 4-angled, internodes twice longer than the 



leaves ; branches oppo.site ; lvs. ovate-ianceolate, 3-veined, acuti.sh, upper ones 



