236 



GENTIANACE^E. 



ovate-lanceolate, sessile, acute or acuminate, the margin and nerves rough, 

 hairy ; lobes of the corolla four times as long as the calyx ; anthers exserted. 

 Woods. Penn and Md. to Flor. W. to Ark. June. f i\.. Stem 618 inches 

 high. Flowers sessile, 3 8 in a spike or raceme, an inch and a half long, crim- 

 son, yellow within. A celebrated vermifuge. Big. Med. Bot. i. 142. 



Pink-root. Perennial Worm Grass. 



ORDER LXXXI. GENTIANACE^E. GENTIANWORTS. 



Calyx divided, persistent. Corolla usually regular, with an 

 imbricate, twisted, rarely induplicate, aestivation ; its lobes of 

 the same number as those of the calyx, generally 4 or 5, (rarely 

 6 10.) Stamens inserted upon the corolla and equal in num- 

 ber to its lobes. Ovary composed of 2 carpels, 1- or partly 

 2-celled; style 1, continuous; stigmas 2. Capsule or berry 

 many-seeded. Seeds small ; albumen fleshy. Herbaceous 

 plants, rarely shrubs, sometimes twining. Leaves almost al- 

 ways opposite and entire. Flowers showy. 



I. GENTIANE^. Corolla imbricate. 

 1. GENTIANA. Linn. Gentian. 



(Named from Gentius, king of Illyria, who, according to Pliny, brought into 

 use the species so much valued in medicine.) 



Calyx 4 5-cleft. Corolla tubular- campanul ate, funnel-form 

 or somewhat salver-form ; the limb 4 5-cleft, sometimes with 

 intermediate plaits. Stamens 4 5, inserted upon the tube of 

 the corolla. Styles very short. Stigmas 2. Capsule 1 -celled, 

 2-valved. 



* Corolla somewhat tubular ; intermediate lobes or plaits large. 



\. G. Andrcwsii Griseb. : stem ascending ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, 3-nerved, rough on the margin ; flowers aggregated, subsessile, brac- 

 teate ; lobes of the calyx shorter than the tube ; corolla connivent ; the 

 lobes very "short, smaller than the somewhat 2-lobed plaits. (D. C.) G. 

 Saponaria Frail, not of Linn. 



Woods and meadows. Can. to Car. W. to Mich. Sept., Oct. %.. Stem 

 1 2 feet high, simple. Flowers large, principally in a dense terminal fascicle or 

 head, bright blue. Andrews's Gentian. 



2. G. Saponaria (J.linearis Griseb.: stem ascending; leaves linear-lan- 

 ceolate, obtuse, rough on the margin ; flowers aggregated, somewhat sessile, 

 bracteate ; lobes of the corolla ovate, twice or thrice as long as the cleft 

 plaits. (D.C.) G.Pneumananthe. G. linearis Frcel. and puberula Mich. 



Valleys of the Adirondack Mountains, Essex county, N. Y. Torr. Swamp 

 near Portland, Maine. Biff. Aug., Sept. 'ZJ-. Stem about a foot high, slender, 

 emooth. Flowers bright blue, 3 5 in a terminal fascicle, with one or two in the 

 axils of the next pair of leaves below. Soap Gentian. 



