GENTIANE.E. 239 



or deciduous ; limb divided into as many lobes as tbe calyx ; 

 aestivation imbricate-twisted. Stamens inserted upon the 

 corol, alternate with the segments and equal to them in num- 

 ber, some occasionally abortive ; pollen 3-lobed or triple. 

 Ovary single, 1 2-celled, many-seeded ; style 1, continuous ; 

 stigmas 1 or 2. Fruit capsular or fleshy, 1-celled, usually 2- 

 valved, the margins of the valves turned inwards, and in the 

 genera with 1-cell bearing the seeds ; in the 2-celled genera 

 inserted into a central placenta. Seeds small ; embryo straight, 

 in the axis of soft fleshy albumen ; radicle opposite the hilum. 

 Herbs, rarely shrubs. Leaves opposite, without stipules. 



1. GENTIANA. Linn. 



Calyx 4 5-cleft. Corol tubular at base, campanulate, 

 or funnel-form, 4 5-cleft, with the orifice naked. Stamens 

 4 5, included. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule 1-celled, 2-valved. 

 Seeds without any margin. Pentandria. Digynia. 



* Corol 5 W-cleft, campanulate, or funnel-form. 



1. G. saponaria Linn. : stem terete, smooth ; leaves ovate-lanceo- 

 late, acute, 3-nerved ; flowers axillary and terminal, sessile, capitate- 

 verticillate ; corol ventricose, closed, 5-cleft ; inner segments unequal- 

 ly 2-cleft, as long as the outer ones ; segments of the calyx ovate, 

 shorter than the tube. G. cateslcd Walt. 



HAB. Woods and meadows. Can. to Car. Sept., Oct. 1. 

 Stem 1 2 feet high. Leaves opposite, sessile. Flowers very 

 large, bright blue. Soap Gentian. 



2. G. ochroleuca IVllld. : stem subangular ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute, scabrous on the margin ; flowers in terminal subsessile fascicles ; 

 segments of the calyx linear-lanceolate ; corol campanulate-ventri- 

 cose, 5-cleft ; segments acute, slightly connivent ; inner ones short 

 toothed. G. saponaria Walt. G. villosa Linn. 



HAB. Sandy fields. N. J. to Flor. Aug., Sept. If.^Stem a 

 foot high, a little scabrous. Flowers yellowish-white, inside 

 striped with blue and purple, large. 



3. G. pneumonantke Linn. : stem terete, smooth ; leaves linear-lan- 

 ceolate, obtuse ; terminal flowers fascicled ; lateral ones solitary, pe- 

 duncled ; corol campanulate, 5-cleft ; segments rounded ; inner folds 

 1-toothed, short. G. pseudo pneumonanthe R. fy S. 



HAB. Swamps, &c., near Portland, Maine. Big. Aug., Sept. 

 21. Stem a foot high. Flowers large, blue. Allied to G. sapo- 

 naria, but much more slender in all its parts. 



4. G. quinquefiora WUld. : stem square, branched ; leaves ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, subclasping, acute, 3-nerved ; flowers somewhat in fives, ax- 

 illary and terminal, pedicellate ; corol tubular-campanulate, 5-cleft ; 



