GENTIANACE^E. (GENTIAN FAMILY .) 345 



— Damp woods, from the northern parts of Maine, to N. Wisconsin, and north 

 ward. July, August. 



5. GENTIANA, L. Gentian. 



Calyx 4-5-cleft. Corolla 4-5-lobed, regular, usually with intermediate 

 plaited folds, which bear appendages or teeth at the sinuses. Style short or 

 none : stigmas 2, persistent. Pod oblong, 2-valved ; the innumerable seeds 

 either borne on placenta; at or near the sutures, or in most of our species cov- 

 ering nearly the whole inner face of the pod. (H. J. Clark!) — Flowers solitary 

 or cymose, showy. (Name from Gentius, king of Illyria, who used some spe- 

 cies medicinally.) 



4 1- AMARELLOIDES, Torr. & Gr.— Corolla tubular-funnel form, without 

 crown or plaited folds, and with the lobes naked: anthers separate, fixed by the 

 middle, introrse in the bud, but retrorsely reversed after the flower opens : seeds 

 wingless : annuals. 



1. O. qMinqueflora, Lam. (Five-flowered Gentian.) Stem rath- 

 er slender, branching (1° high) ; leaves ovate-lanceolate from a partly clasp- 

 ing and heart-shaped base, 3 - 7-nerved, tipped with a minute point ; branches 

 racemed or paniclcd, about 5-flowered at the summit ; lobes of the small 5-cleft 

 calyx awl-shaped-linear ; lobes of the pale-blue corolla triangular-ovate, bristle- 

 pointed, one fourth the length of the slender obconical tube. — Var. occiden- 

 tAlis has linear-lanceolate calyx-lobes which are more leaf-like, and about half 

 the length of the corolla. — Dry hilly woods, Vermont to Wisconsin and south- 

 ward, especially along the Alleghanies : the var. is the common form in the 

 Western States. Aug., Sept. — Corolla light purplish-blue, nearly 1' long; in 

 the variety proportionally shorter. 



4 2. CROSSOPETALUM, Froz\.— Corolla flmnel form, gland-bearing between 

 the bases of the Ji laments, without crown or plaited folds ; the lobes fringed or toothed 

 on the margins: anthers as in § 1 : pod someivhat stalked: seeds wingless, clothed 

 with little scales : annuals or biennials. 



2. G. crillita, Frcel. (Fringed Gentian.) Flowers solitary on long 

 peduncles terminating the stem or simple branches ; leaves lanceolate, or ovate- 

 lanceolate from a partly heart-shaped or rounded base ; lobes of the 4-clcft calyx 

 unequal, ovate and lanceolate, as long as the bell-shaped tube of the sky-blue 

 corolla, the lobes of which arc wedgc-obovate, and strongly fringed around the sum- 

 mit ; ovary lanceolate. — Low grounds, New England to Kentucky and Wiscon- 

 sin; rather common, and sparingly beyond, both northward and southward. 

 Sept. —Plant 1° -2° high : the showy corolla 2' long. 



3. G. <lct6nsa, Fries. (Smaller Fringed Gentian.) Stem simple 

 or with slender branches, terminated by solitary flowers on very long peduncles ; 

 leaves linear or lanceolate-linear ; lobes of the 4- (rarely 5-) cleft calyx unequal, 

 ovate or triangular and lanceolate, pointed ; lobes of the sky-blue cowl la spatulate- 

 ol'long, with ciliate-fringed margins, the fringe shorter or nearly obsolete at the sum- 

 mit; ovary elliptical or oborate. — Moist grounds, Niagara Falls to Wisconsin 

 ITxipham), and northwestward. Sept. (Eu.) 



