384 GKNTIANACK-E. (gICNTIAX FAMILY.) 



OnoKn 77. GElVTIAWACEiE. (Gentian Family.) 



Smooth herbs, with a colorless bitter Juice, opposite and sessile entire and 

 simple leaves (except in Tribe II.) without stipules, regular Jiowers with the 

 stamens as mani/ as the lobes of the corolla, which are convolute {rarely im- 

 bricated and sometimes valvule) in the bud, a 1-celled ovanj ivith 2 parietal 

 placenfcE, or nearhj the tvhole inner face of the ocarij ovuliferous ; the fruit 

 usually a 2-valred and septicidul many-seeded pod. — Flowers solitary or 

 cymose. Calyx persistent. Corolla mostly withering-persistent ; the 

 stamens inserted on its tube. Seeds anatropous, with a minute embryo 

 in fleshy albumen. (Bitter-tonic plants.) 



Tribe I. GENTIANE^. Lobes of the corolla convolute in the buil (with the sinuses 

 mostly plaiteil), or in Obolaria imbricated. Leaves almost always opposite or whorled, en- 

 tire, those of the stem sessile. Seeds very small and numerous, with a cellular coat ; In 

 Obolaria, Bartonia, and several Gentians, the ovules and seeds covering the whole face of 

 the pericarp ! 



* Style distinct and slender, deciduous. 



1. Sabbiitia. Corolla wheel-shaped, 5- 12-parted : anthers at length recurved. 



2. Erythrrea. Corolla funnel-form or salver-shaped, 4 - 5-clefl : anthers soon spiral. 



» * Style (if any) and stigmas persistent : anthers straight. 



3. Frasera. Corolla 4-parted, wheel-shaped ; a fringed glandular spot on each lobe. 



4. Hnlenia. Corolla 4- 5-cleft, bell-shaped, and 4 - o-spurred at the base. 



5. Gentiaiia. Corolla funnel- or bell-shaped, mostly plaited in the sinuses, not spurred. 



6. Barloiiia. Corolla deeply 4-cleft, bell-shaped : no jjlaits. Calyx 4-parted. 



7. Obolaria. Corolla tubular-bell-shaped, 4-lobea, with no plaits, the lobes imbricated in 



the bud ! Calyx '2-leaved. 



Tribe II. MEIV YANTIIE^. Lobes of the corolla valvate in the bud, with the edges 

 turned inwards. Stem-leaves alternate, petioled. Seed-coat hard or bony. 



8. MeiiyaiitUes. Corolla bearded inside. Leaves 3-foliolate. 



9. liiniiiantbeuium. Corolla naked or bearded on the margins only. Leaves simple, 



rounded. 



1. SABBATIA, Adans. American Centaury. 



Calyx .^- 12-piirteil, tlic divisions slender. Corolla 5-12-partcd, wheel- 

 shaped. Stamens 5-12: anthers soon recurved. Style 2-piirtcd, slender. — 

 Biennials or annuals, with slender stems, and cymose-panicled handsome (whitfe 

 or rose-purple) flowers ; in summer. (Dedicated to L. Sabbati, an early Italian 

 botanist.) 



* Corolla ^-/inrted, or rnreli/ 6-7-pnrtrd. 

 -»- Corolla ivhitc, often turning yellowish in dryiny: rynus rarymhed, wany-fowered. 



1. S. paniCUlkta, Pursh. Stpm Imwhiately much-lmmrhcd (l°-2° hi>,rh), 

 rather terete, l)nt angled with 4 sharp lines ; letrces linpfir or the hnvr ahtmiq, ob' 

 fuse, I- nerved, iio;iily ('(|iiallinfi the internodes ; calyx-lohes linear-thread-form, 

 much shorter than the corolla. — Low grounds, Viriiinia and southward. 



2. S. lanceolata, Ton-. & Gr. Stem sim/ile (l°-3° hi>-h) bearing a flat- 

 topped cyme; Imrts ovntp-ianceohite or ovate, H-nerved, the upper acute, much 

 shorter than the internodes ; calyx-lobes longer and flowers larger thnn in 



