450 



C. GENTIANACEiE. 



Sabbatu. 



Order C. GENTIANACEiE. 



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



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



Fls. conspicuous, terminal or axillary, regular or sometunes irregular. 



Cal.—SepaXs 4—5—10, united at base, persistent. , ^ „ j ■ x- *,- 



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



Sra. issuing from the tube of the corolla, as 

 many as its lobes and alternate with 

 them. 

 Ova. l-celled, sometimes rendered appar- 

 ently 2-celled by the introflexed pla- 

 centae. 

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

 Fr. Capsule many-seeded. Seeds small. 

 Embryo straight, with fleshy albu- 

 men. 



Genera 60, species 450, found in every 

 part of the world. 



Properties. — An intensely bitter princi- 

 ple, railed gentianine, pervades the whole 

 order without exception, residing in everv 

 part, rendering them tonic and febrifugal. 

 The gentian of the shops 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 (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. . Gentiana. 



( Anthers { Pet. 4, \ Sep. 4, subulate. . Cicendia. 



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



( tubular. ( Anthers spirally twisted. . . . Erythrcea. 



i-< ^ Petals with no eland. . . . SaJjhatia. 



. ( rotate. I Petals with a glandular pit. . . Swertia. 



Corolla with- 



; out horns, . . ( rotate. I Petals with a „ _ tt • 



'opposite. ( Corolla without 4 homs at base Halema. 



1 verticillate in whorlsof4s, 5sand6s Frasera. 



{ none, or reduced to small opposite scales Centaurella. 



1 t simple, floating in water Limnanthemum. 



Leaves laltemate and radical, I trifoliate Menyanthes. 



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—1 2-parted; 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. — d) Slender herhs^ with pedicellate, mostly ''oseatefls. 

 Native of the temperate regions of North America. 



1. S. GRACILIS. Salisb. (S. campanulata. Ton: Chironia. Linn.) 



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

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

 cle few-flowered; cal. 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, internodes twice longer than the 



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



