BOTTLE GENTIAN 



Gentiana saponaria Linnaeus 



In autumn, long after most of our flowers except goldenrods and 

 asters have faded, the bottle gentian is found in blossom in the thickets 

 bordering woodlands. Unlike its better-known relative, the fringed 

 gentian, it is a perennial, and may be sought with some confidence year 

 after year in the same locality. Its richly colored flowers, of a hue rare 

 at any season, are a delight to the eye when other flowers are so scarce. 

 Blue and purple flowers often have albino forms, and the bottle gen- 

 tian is no exception, as plants with pure white corollas are not unusual. 



Bottle gentian ranges from Florida and Louisiana northward to 

 Connecticut and Ontario, and closely related species are even more 

 widely distributed. 



The specimen sketched came from the vicinity of Washington, 

 District of Columbia. 



PLATE l6l 



