NAT. ORDER 

 Gentianece. 



GENTIANA ACAULIS. LARGF^ FLOWERED GENTUN. 



Class V. Pentandru. Order IT. Digynia. 



Gen. Char. Calyx, campanulate, four or five parted ; segments 



unequal. Corolla, tubular at the base. Star)icns, five, equal. 



Germen, oblong, two stigmas, sessile, or with a style. 



Spe. Char. Slcms, rough. Leaves, opposite, sessile, ovate, lanceo- 

 late, subtrinerve, acute. Flowers, capitate, calicynal segments 

 longer than the tube. Corolla, tubular, plaited. 

 The root of this plant is large, woody, and of a purplish-yellow 

 color ; the leaves are ovate-lanceolate, in sets or pairs, and spread 

 considerable upon the ground ; the stem is from two to six inches in 

 height, with one or two pairs of leaves on it, and terminated by one 

 very large, upright, handsome flower, which is of a deep azure blue, 

 dotted on the inside. When cultivated in gardens there are 

 sometimes two and three flowers upon the same stem. It is said to 

 be a native of Austria, but is found in some parts of the United Slates. 

 All the Gentians are beautiful plants, more or less bitter in the 

 roots or leaves. There are many species in the United States, some 

 of Avliich have only lately been noticed, and many are as yet 

 undescribcd. The Genus Gcntiana took its name from Gentius, 

 king of lUyria : it gives its name to a large Natural Family. This 

 genus is a very heterogeneous one, although striking by its habit ; 

 but the flowers have the peculiarity of being variable in sliapes and 

 numbers, wherefore many botanists have rationally divided it into 

 subgenera, which might be rather deemed Genera. 



This whole order is distinguished more readily by its habit alone 

 than by character. The species are chiefly natives of cool and 



Vol. iv. — 54. 



