450 C. GENTIANACEA. . SABBATIA. 
Orver C. GENTIANACEZ®. 
Plants herbaceous, rarely shrubby, generally smooth, sometimes twining. Juice colorless. 
Lvs. opposite, entire and smooth. Stip. 0. ; : ; 
Fis. conspicuous, terminal or axillary, regular 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 estivation. 
Sia. issuing from the tube of the corolla, as 
many as its lobes and alternate with 
em. 
Ova. 1-celled, sometimes rendered appar- 
ently § 2-celled by the introflexed pla- 
cente. 
Sty. united into 1, or wanting. Stig. 1—2. 
Fr. Capsule many-seeded. Seeds small. 
mbryo straight, with fleshy albu- 
men, 
Genera 60, species 450, found in every 
part of the world. 
Properties.—An intensely bitter princi- 
ple, called gentianine, pervades the whole 
order without exception, residing in eve 
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 
a Many are cultivated for orna- 
men 
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. 
Petals 5, or 4 and fringed. . Gentiana. 5 
Anthers 4 Pet. 4, § Sep. 4, subulate. . Cicendia. 3 
straight. ( entire. (Sep. 2, leaf-like. . Obolaria. a 
.. (tubular. ( Anthers spirally twisted. . . . Erythrea. 2 
Corolla with- ; Petals withnogland. |. . . Sabbatia. 1 
: out horns, .. Crotate. (Petals with a glandular pit. . - Swertia. 8 
( opposite. ( Corolla without 4hornsat base... . . . . +. ~ «. Halenia, 7 
verticillate in whorls of 4s,5sand6s. . Sop Pee 4 eke . : - Frasera. 9 
none, or reduced tosmall opposite scales. . . . . «. «+ « Centaurella. 6 
s simple, floating in water. 7 «8 ee) «Ltmnanthemum. 10 
Leaves \ alternate and radical, ?trifoliate. . . . . . = . +. +=. «+ Menyanthes. ll 
Trise 1. Corolla imbricate from right to left in estivation. 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-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 1-celled, the valves 
a little introflexed —® Slender herbs, with pedicellate, mostly ~oseate fis. 
Native of the temperate regions of North America. . 
1. 8. Gracizis. Salisb. (S. campanulata. Torr. Chironia. Linn.) 
St. slightly angular, internodes twice longer than the leaves; branches 
alternate, spreading; vs. 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. corymposa. Baldwin. (S. paniculata. a. Ph. Chironia. Walter. 
Swertia. Linn.)—St. slightly 4-angled, internodes twice longer than the 
leaves; branches opposite; lvs. ovate-lanceolate, 3-veined, acutish, upper ones 
