The gentians have opposite (occasionally whorled), often clasping 

 leaves, and attractive flowers with bell- or funnel-shaped, four- or 

 five-lobed corollas, which are blue, violet-purple, greenish, yellow, 

 red, or white. The characteristic hue of the American species is 

 "gentian bine" and this is one of the reasons advanced by some Amer- 

 ican botanists for placing our native species in other genera 

 Amarella, Anthop&gon, C hondrophylla, and Dasystephcma the bo- 

 tanical type of Gentiana, being the Old World G. lutea, with yellow 

 flowers. 



Although the gentians are difficult to start, when once established, 

 the perennials, at least, last indefinitely ; many of the species rate the 

 effort required to grow them. 3 Unfortunately, the fringed gentian 

 (G, crinita), one of the most beautiful members of the genus, has not 

 been successfully domesticated. 3 In fact, this eastern species is 

 threatened with extinction as a result of the thoughtlessness of count- 

 less "nature lovers" who pick the beautiful blossoms at every oppor- 

 tunity. This is the fringed gentian that the poet Bryant, in his 

 well-known ode of that name, described as "colored with the heaven's 

 own blue." 



The eastern and western fringed gentians are representative of 

 those species whose flowers open in the morning and close at eventide. 

 In other species, the flowers open only slightly, and the unique 

 flowers of the closed gentian have been the theme of various poems. 

 Legends concerning gentians are numerous, bizzare, and intriguing. 

 One quaint and interesting tale seeks to explain why the flowers of 

 some gentians open and close whereas those of other species remain 

 closed. The story originally is, all gentian flow T ers were closed, until 

 once when the fairy queen, unable to reach home, entreated a gentian 

 to open its flower and allow her to spend the night therein. In grati- 

 tude for this hospitality, the fairy queen informed the gentian that, 

 subsequently, she and all her children would open each morning. 4 

 During the reign of King Ladislas in Hungary, according to another 

 gentian legend, the people were ravaged by a plague. The king, in 

 despair, going into the field prayed that an arrow shot at random 

 would be directed to some plant which would serve as an effective 

 remedy. The arrow which he then shot pierced the root of a 

 gentian. From that time forward, gentian roots used as a medicine 

 supposedly effected wondrous cures. 5 



3 Bailey, L. II. THE STANDARD CYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE . . . New ed., 3 v., 

 illus. New York and London. 1933. 



4 Clements, E. S. FLOWERS OF COAST AND SIERRA. 226 pp., illus. New York. 1928. 



6 Skinner, C. M. MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF FLOWERS, TREES, FRUITS, AND PLANTS IN ALL 

 AGES AND IN ALL CLIMES. [302] pp., illus. Philadelphia and London. [1925.] 





