214 
Substitution  of  American  Centaury. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
May,  1905. 
eight  samples  seen,  three  of  the  spurious  article  and  five  of  the 
genuine. 
Sabbatia  angnlaris  (L.),  Pursh,1  a  member  of  the  gentian  family, 
is  found  in  rich  soil  from  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  to  Ontario 
and  Michigan  and  southward  to  Florida,  Indian  Territory  and  Lou- 
isiana. It  reaches  a  height  of  from  2  to  3  feet,  flowering  in  July  and 
August,  the  bloom  being  rose-pink  in  color  with  a  central  greenish 
star. 
Rhexia  mariana  L.,2  a  member  of  the  Melastomacecz,  grows  in 
sandy  swamps  from  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey  to  Florida,  Illi- 
nois, Missouri  and  Texas.  It  reaches  a  height  of  from  1  to  2  feet, 
flowering  from  June  to  September  and  bearing  pale  purplish  flowers. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  plants  have  some  striking  points  in  com- 
mon. They  occupy  the  same  territory  over  a  wide  area ;  the  time 
of  flowering  overlaps  ;  the  stature  is  not  distinctive,  and  the  general 
coloring  of  the  flowers  is  somewhat  similar.  In  Sabbatia  angularis 
the  stem  is  square  and  narrowly  winged  ;  in  Rhexia  mariana  it  is 
round,  but  in  the  nearly  related  species,  R.  virginica  L.,  which 
seemed  to  constitute  the  bulk  of  one  sample,  the  stem  is  square. 
Hence,  it  would  not  be  altogether  surprising  if  ignorant  collectors 
had  to  some  degree  confused  the  plants  concerned. 
It  is,  however,  not  dificult  to  distinguish  the  spurious  article  from 
the  genuine.  The  following  points  of  difference  are  readily  de- 
tected in  the  dry  herb,  and  may  be  observed  in  the  chopped  articles  : 
(1)  Sabbatia  herb  has  a  strong,  clean,  bitter  taste,  which  is  quickly 
noticed  on  chewing.  Rhexia  herb  is  not  bitter,  but  lacks  a  dis- 
tinctive taste  of  any  kind.  This  is  a  quick  and  convenient  way  of 
distinguishing  them  in  the  warehouse. 
(2)  In  Sabbatia,  portions  of  the  flowers,  turned  reddish-yellow  in 
drying,  are  to  be  seen  and  the  oblong  seed  vessels  enclosed  about 
the  base  by  the  remnants  of  the  calyx  containing  a  large  number  of 
small  seeds.  In  Rhexia^  the  seed  vessel  enclosed  by  the  remnant  of 
the  calyx  consists  of  a  rounded  basal  portion  passing  upward  into  a 
narrower  neck-like  part  which  is  expanded  again  into  a  flaring  por- 
tion, on  the  margins  of  which  are  situated  the  remnants  of  the  calyx 
1  "  Britton's  Manual  of  the  Flora  of  the  Northern  States  and  Canada,"  p.  730, 
1901. 
2  Ibid,  p.  651. 
