Fringed Gentian (Gentiana crinita ), because of 
its exquisite beauty and comparative rarity, is one of 
the most highly prized of our wild flowers. 
The stem is stout, stiff and branching, each branch 
being erect and terminating in a hud. The yellow- 
green leaves are ovate-lanceolate, seated oppositely on 
the stem. 
The calyx is angular, has four sharp points and is 
a bronze-green in color. During September and October 
we may find these blossoms fully expanded, delicate, 
vase-shaped creations with four spreading deeply-fringed 
lobes bearing no resemblance in shape or form to any 
other American species. The color is a violet-blue, the 
color that is most attractive to bumblebees, and it is to 
these insects that the flower is indebted for the setting 
of its seed. The anthers mature before the stigma is 
developed so that self-fertilization is impossible. The 
flowers are wide open only during sunshine, furling in 
their peculiar twisted manner on cloudy days and at 
night. In moist woods from Me. to Minn, and south¬ 
wards. 
141 
