GENTIAN FAMILY. Qentianacese. 



A familiar species of the Middle and 

 Soap wort Western States closely resembling the 



Gentiana Bottle Gentian. The pale blue-violet, or 



Saponaria light lilac-blue flower is only parti}' open, 



Pale blue» the five lobes are blunt, erect, slightly cut 



^'^'** at the tip, and the flower-cup is club- 



October shaped, the anthers within cohering in 



a ring. The light green leaves are com- 

 monly ovate lance-shaped, three-ribbed, and pointed 

 at either end, the edges rough. The flowers form a 

 terminal cluster; a few grow from the leaf-angles. They 

 are frequented by honeybees and bumblebees ; Bom- 

 biis americanorum is a conmion visitor. Both this 

 Gentian and the preceding one ripen their pollen before 

 the stigma is receptive and cross-fertilization is there- 

 fore inevitable. The smooth and slender stem is 12-27 

 inches high. The juice of the plant is soapj'. In wet 

 woodlands from N. Y., west to Minn., and south. 



A perennial. In the east this is the 



^, . r: -*• commonest of all Gentians; it is remark- 

 Closed uentian 



Gentiana able for its tight -closed bottle -shaped 



Andreii'sii corolla, which is contracted by plaits white- 



Violet=blue striped, white at the base and an intense 



ugus - violet-blue at the apex ; sometimes the 



October ^ 



blue approaches ultramarine. The medium 



(sometimes rusty) green leaves are smooth, ovate lance- 

 shaped, pointed at the tip, and generally narrowed at 

 the base. The flowers are mostly crowded in a terminal 

 cluster, but some grow from the leaf-bases; all are set 

 close to the leaves, which are conspicuously arranged in 

 pairs. Bumblebees not infrequently force an entrance 

 into the corolla, and self-fertilization is sometimes ques- 

 tionable. The smooth, round stem 1-2 feet high. Rich 

 woodland borders, Me. to S. Dak., south to Ga. and Mo. 



A much less common Gentian frequent- 

 Gentiana . . • i tj. • ^.i i 



linearis ^"^ mountam bogs. It IS a smooth, slen- 



Light blue- der-stemmed perennial, with light green 

 violet linear or lance-linear leaves with three 



August- j.jijg^ acute at either end. The pale blue- 



p em er violet flower-cup is contracted to a funnel- 



form with rather scallop-shaped lobes ; the light green, 

 360 



