GENTIANACE.fi. (GENTIAN FAMIL1.; 345 



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

 ward. July, August. 



5. GENTIAN A, 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.) 



fl. AMARELLOlDES, 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. G. quiiiqueflora, 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 panicled, about 5-flowered at the summit ; lobes of the small 5-eleffc 

 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. 



{ 2. CROSSOPETALUM, Frcel. Corolla funnel-form, gland-bearing between 

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

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

 with little scales : annuals or biennials. 



2. O. criiiita, Froel. (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-cleft calyx 

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

 corolla, the' lobes of which are wedge-obovate, and strongly fringed around the sunt- 

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

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

 Sept. Plant l-2 high : the showy corolla 2' long. 



3. O. detoiisa, 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 corolla spatulate 

 oblong, with ciliate-fringed margins, the fringe shorter or nearly obsolete at the sum 

 mil ; ovary elliptical or obovate. Moist grounds, Niagara Falls to Wisconsin 

 (Lapham), and northwestward. Sept. (EuJ 



