VOL. IL] 



GENTIAN FAMILY. 



607 



stigma entire, or 2-lobed, or 2-cleft. Capsule mostly dehiscent by 2 valves. 

 Seeds globose, angular or compressed; endosperm fleshy, copious; embryo 

 small, terete or conic. 



About 65 genera and 600 species, widely distributed, most abundant in temperate regions. 

 Leaves normal; corolla-lobes convolute in the bud. 



Style filiform; anthers usually twisting or recurving when old. 

 Corolla salver-form. 

 Corolla rotate. 



Corolla campanulate-funnelform. 



St3 r le short, stout or none; anthers remaining straight. 

 Corolla without nectariferous pits, glands or scales. 

 Corolla funnelform, campanulate or clavate. 

 Corolla rotate. 



1-2 nectariferous pits, glands or scales at the base of each corolla-lobe. 

 Corolla rotate, a fringed gland at each lobe. 

 Corolla campanulate, spurred at the base. 



Leaves, at least those of the stem, reduced to scales; corolla-lobes imbricated in the bud. 

 Calyx of 4 lanceolate sepals; leaves all reduced to scales. 8. Bartonia. 



Calyx of 2 foliaceous spatulate sepals ; upper leaves normal. 9. Obolaria. 



1. Erythraea. 



2. Sdbbatia. 



3. Eusloma. 



4. Gentiana. 



5. Pleurogyne. 



6. Frasera. 



7. Tetragonanthus. 



i. ERYTHRAEA Neck. Elem. 2: 10. 1790. 



Herbs, mostly annual or biennial, with sessile or amplexicaul leaves, and small or mid- 

 dle sized commonly numerous pink white or yellow flowers in cymes or spikes. Calyx 

 tubular, 5-4-lobed or -divided, the lobes or segments narrow, keeled. Corolla salverform, 

 5-4-lobed, the tube long or short, the lobes spreading, contorted, convolute in the bud. 

 Stamens 5 or 4, inserted on the corolla-tube; filaments short-filiform; anthers linear or ob- 

 long, becoming spirally twisted. Ovary i-celled, the placentae sometimes intruded; style 

 filiform; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule oblong-ovoid or fusiform, 2-valved. Seed-coat reticulated. 

 [Greek, red, the color of the flowers.] 



About 25 species, natives of the Old World and western North and South America. Besides 

 the following, about 8 others occur in the western and southwestern parts of the United States. 



Flowers spicate-racemose. I. E. spicata. 

 Flowers cymose or cymose-paniculate. 



Basal leaves tufted. 2. E. Centaurium. 

 No tuft of basal leaves. 



Flowers cymose-paniculate, numerous. 3. E. pulchella. 



Flowers few, cymose; western. 4. E. exaltata. 



i. Erythraea spicata (L.) Pers. Spiked 

 Centaury. (Fig. 2851.) 



Gentiana spicata L. Sp. PI. 230. 1753. 

 Erythraea spicata Pers. Syn. i: 283. 1805. 



Annual, glabrous, erect, strict, usually branched, 6'- 

 18' high. Leaves oblong or lanceolate-oblong, sessile, 

 obtusish at the apex, clasping at the base, J^'-iX' l n g 

 2 // -7 // wide; flowers pink, sessile, distant and spicate- 

 racemose on the mostly simple and leafless branches, 

 about 8" long; tube of the corolla somewhat longer than 

 the subulate calyx-segments, 2-3 times as long as the 

 linear-oblong lobes; capsule \"-*>" long. 



Coast of Nantucket, and at Portsmouth, Va. Naturalized 

 from Europe. May-Sept. 



2. Erythraea Centaurium (I,.) Pers. L,esser 

 Centaury. Bitter-herb. Bloodwort. (Fig. 2852.) 



Gentiana Centaurium. L. Sp. PI. 229. 1753. 

 Erythraea Centaurium Pers. Syn. i: 283. 1805. 



Annual, glabrous, erect, usually branched, 6 / -i5 / high. 

 Leaves oblong, apex obtuse, the base narrowed; the lower 

 forming a basal tuft, \'-2.% f long, 3 // -6 // wide; stem 

 leaves smaller, distant, rounded at the sessile or slightly 

 clasping base; flowers numerous, 6 // -8 // long, nearly ses- 

 sile, in compound terminal mostly dense bracteolate 

 cymes; corolla-lobes obtuse, 2X // ~3 // long, about as long 

 as the calyx-segments and one-third to one-half as long 

 as the corolla-tube; stigmas oval. 



In waste places, Nova Scotia and Quebec to Illinois. 

 Naturalized from Europe. Called also Earth-gall. June-Sept. 



