450 



C. GENTIANACE^. 



SABB4TU, 



Order C. GENTIANACEiE. 



Plants herbaceous, rarely shrubbr, generally smooth, sometimes twining. Juice colorless. 



Lvs. opposite, entire and smooth. Slip. 0. ... 



Flu- conspicuous, terminal or axillary, regular or sometmies irregular. 



Cfli.— Sepals 4—5—10, united at base, persistent. ., . ■ , i •„ „.,:„„.;„„ 



Cor. usually regular, limb divided into as many lobes as there |-f„»fP^J^ -jP^K'tub'e of^e'coX,as 



many as its lobes and alternate with 

 them. 

 Ova. l-celled, sometimes rendered appar- 

 ently 2-celled by the introflexed pla- 



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



Pr. Capsule many-seeded. Seeds small. 

 Embryo straight, with fleshy albu- 

 men, 



Genera 60, species 450, found in every 

 part of the world. 



Properties.— Kn intensely bitter princi- 

 ple, called gentianine, pervades the whole 

 order without e.\ception, residing in every 

 part, rendering them tonic and febrifugal. 

 The gentian of the shops is most com- 

 monly the product of Gentiana hitea, but 

 almost any of our species may be substitut- 

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

 of the order, the buck-bean (Menyanthes 

 trifoliata), Limnanthemum nymphoides, 

 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 

 calyx and capsule. 3. The corolla laid 

 open, showing the folds (2-lobed) between 

 the proper petals, and the stamens attached 

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

 magnified, with its large, loose testa. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



i Petals 5, or 4 and fringed. 

 ( Anthers I Pet. 4, \ Sep. 4, subulate. 

 < straight. ( entire, i Sep. 2, leaf-like. 

 ( tubular. ( Anthers spirally twisted. . 

 (Corolla with--! j Petals with no gland. 



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



("opposite. ( Corolla without 4 horns at base 



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



i none, or reduced to small opposite scales ventaurelta. 8 



I 5 simple, floating in water Limnanthemum. 10 



Leaves laltemate and radical, {trifoliate Menyanthes. U 



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



membranaceous. Terrestrial herbs with opposite leaves. 



1. SABBATIA. Adans. 



In honor of Sabbati, a distinguished Italian botanical author. 



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

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

 stigma 2-parted, with spiral divisions; capsule l-celled, the valves 

 a little introflexed. — ® Slender herbs, with pedicellate, mostly ^oseatejls. 

 Native of the temperate regions of North America. 



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



St. slightly angular, intemodes twice longer than the leaves ; branches 

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

 cle few- flowered ; cat. segments linear-setaceous, about equaling the corolla; 

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

 to Ky. Stem a foot high, with long, diverging branches. Flowers terminal, 

 subsolitary, purple, on long peduncles. July, Aug. 



2. S. coRYMBosA. Baldwin. (S. paniculata. a. Ph. Chironia, Walter. 

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



leaves ; branches opposite ; lvs. ovate-lanceolate, 3-veined, acutish, upper ones 



