107 



THE BLUE GENTIANS. 



During the reign of King Gentius, 

 lllyria was devastated by the plague. So 

 great was the mortality among his sub- 

 jects, the pious king appointed a season 

 of fasting, and prayed that if he shot an 

 arrow into the air the Almighty would 

 direct its descent, guiding it to some herb 

 possessed of sufficient virtue to arrest the 

 course of the disease. The king shot the 

 arrow and in falling it cleft the root of a 

 plant which, when tested, was found to 

 possess the most astonishing curative 

 powers, and did much to lessen the rav- 

 ages of the plague. The plant from that 

 time on became known as the Gentian, in 

 honor of the good king, whose supplica- 

 tions brought about the divine manifesta- 

 tion of its medicinal properties. 



The old herbalists called the Gentian 

 Baldmoyne, or Feldwode. The first of 

 these names is supposed to have been de- 

 rived from the Latin valde bona, mean- 

 ing very good. It was regarded as a 

 specific for poisons and pestilence, and an 

 excellent remedy for wounds caused by 

 mad dogs. The term Feldwode carries 

 the associations of the plant back to the 

 time of Greek myths and fables. Tellus, 

 the goddess of the earth, possessed the 

 power to produce plants potent for en- 

 chantments. Hence, when Medea be- 

 sought Tellus to evolve a plant which 

 would give the element of renewed youth 

 to the mixture in her caldron, the god- 

 dess produced the Gentian or Feldewode, 

 which restored to the aged ^^^on the 

 freshness and vigor of youth. 



The genus Gentianaincludes nearly two 

 hundred species distributed from boreal 

 to tropical regions, although the majority 

 are found in the north temperate zone. A 

 large number of species are found in 

 Europe, more than sixty having been re- 

 ported from Russia, and there are nearly 

 ©ne hundred in North America. Several 

 very beautiful forms come from the Swiss 

 Alps, which rarely attain a height of more 

 than three or four inches. The deep blue 

 flowers of these diminutive specimens re- 

 tain their color for years after being 

 pressed for the herbarium, thus differing 



from many of the larger forms, whose 

 corollas quickly fade. 



One of the most attractive and familiar 

 of the Gentians is the fringed or blue 

 Gentian (Gentiana crinita). It is gener- 

 ally found in low grounds, along water 

 courses or ditches, and while quite gen- 

 erally distributed, it is sparing of its fa- 

 vors, as the long peduncles that terminate 

 the stems or simple branches, support 

 but a single flower. The plant grows to 

 a height of from one to two feet, and the 

 leaves, placed opposite to each other, have 

 rounded or heart-shaped bases attached 

 directly to the stems, entire edges and 

 tapering points. The sky-blue flower is 

 bell-shaped, nearly two inches long and 

 with the lobes strongly fringed. This is 

 partially enclosed by a calyx, which is 

 nearly as long as the corolla. 



A much more common form, found 

 growing in fields and woodlands, is the 

 closed Gentian (Gentiana Andrewsii). The 

 fanciful name, Cloistered Heart, has been 

 given to the plant because of the story 

 that once a fairy queen sought to elude 

 pursuit by secreting herself in the flower 

 of a fringed Gentian. In order that she 

 might be more effectually shielded, the- 

 plant closed the lobes of its corolla and im 

 gratitude the queen decorated the interior 

 of the flower with brilliant stripes. It is 

 in order to preserve this fairy painting 

 that the flowers have remained closed ever 

 since. 



The closed Gentian has leaves with 

 rough edges and a narrow base. The 

 flowers are blue or occasionally white, 

 closed at the mouth, forming an inflated, 

 club-shaped corolla, with stripes on the 

 inside. They are arranged in clusters on 

 the ends of the peduncles or flower stems 

 and are from an inch to an inch and a half 

 in length. Both the fringed and the blue 

 Gentian bloom during the autumn 

 months and are among the most attractive 

 forms that mark the close of the floral 

 season. 



The medicinal properties of the Gen- 

 tian are obtained from the root, which, 

 after being powdered, yields its remedial 



