GENTIANACE-H. 303 



resembling those of the common soapwort. Flowers large, bright-blue, erect, 

 an inch and a half long, subsessile, in b\inches at the top of the stem, and 

 often solitary in the upper axils. The inflated corollas are so nearly closed at 

 the top as to be easily mistaken for buds ; and the young botanist waits in 

 vain to see them expand. Calyx of 5 ovate segments, shorter than the tube. 

 Sept. Oct. Per. Soapwort Gentian. 



2. G. Piseumona'nthe. 



Stem terete; leaves linear-lanceolate, obtuse; iermmiA flotcers fascicled, 

 lateral ones solitary ; coroUa campanulate, with acute segments, the inner 

 folds 1-toothed, short. Meadows, swamps, borders of mountain lakes, &c 

 Resembles the former species, but more slender. Stem simple, eiect, 10 — 15 

 inches high, very smooth, purple. Leaves an inch and a half long, 2 — 3 lines 

 ■wide. Flowers large, 2 — 3 together at the summit of the stem, with a few 

 solitary ones in the axils of the upper leaves. Corolla blue. Segments of the 

 calyx linear, subacute. Aug. Sept. Per. Marsh Gentian. 



3. G. QUINQUEFLO'rA. Frml. 



Stem 4-angled branching ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved ; flmcers 

 terminal and axillary, about in 5s, pedicellate; co?o//« tubular-cauipanulale, 

 in 5, lanceolate, setaceously acuminate segments ; cahjx very shoit. Woods 

 and pastures. Stem a foot high, smooth, generally blanched. Leaves 3 — 5- 

 nerved, half-clasping, acute, smooth. Flowers small, on pedicels half an inch 

 in length. Corolla pale blue, 4 times as long as the subulate sepals. Sept. 

 Oct. Bien. Fice-fioicered Gentian. 



* * Corolla 4-cleft, segments fimbriate. Crossopetalum. 



4. G. CRINI'TA. Frml. 



Stem terete, erect ; leaves lanceolate, acute ; flowers tetramerous ; segments 

 of the corolla cut-ciliate. The Fringed Gentian is among our most beautiful 

 and interesting native plants ; not uncommon in cool, low grounds. The 

 stem is about 1 foot high, round and smooth. The branches are long, and, 

 with a slight curve at base, become perfectly erect and straight, each bearing 

 2 leaves at the middle, and a single, large, erect flower at the top. Leaves 

 broadest at base, tapering to the apex, 1 — 2 inches long and a fifth as wide. 

 Calyx square, segments acuminate, equaling the tube of the corolla. Corolla 

 of a bright bluish purple, the segments obovate, finely fringed at the margin, 

 and expanded in the sunshine. Aug. Per. Fringed Gentian. 



2. HALE'NIA. 

 Flowers tetramerous; corolla short campanulate, petals 

 spurred at base, with glands at the base of the spur within ; 

 stigmas 2, terminating Die acuminate ovary ; capsule 1-celled ; 

 seeds Indetinlte, fixed to the sutures of the valves. 



Removed from Svvertia on account of the corniculate corollas. 



H. DEFLE'xa. Borlih. Swertia corniculate. Mz. S. deflexa. Smith. 



Stem erect, leafy ; leaves 3 — 5-nerved, radical ones oblong-spathulate, taper- 

 ing into a petiole, cauline ones oblong-lanceolate, acute, sessile ; spvrs 

 cylindric, obtuse, deflexed, half as long as the corolla. Swamps, rare. Stem 

 about 18 inches high, obtusely 4-angled, smooth, with few branches above. 

 Leaves opposite 1^ — 2 inches long, a third as wide, smooth. Flowers green- 

 ish yellow, in terminal fascicles. Sepals linear-lanceolate, half as long as the 

 petals. Corolla persistent, with 4, spreading horns orspurs descending between 

 the sepals. Seeds numerous, obtuse, yellow. Aug. Bien. FelworU 



