(A) Downy Gentian (Gentiana puberula) is a handsome species springing from a perennial root, the simple, straight stem rising from 8 to 18 inches high; the stem is usually rough and slightly hairy. The light-green leaves are stiff and seated oppositely on the stem. The flowers are borne in terminal clusters or, sometimes, from the axils of the upper leaves; they are bell-shaped with five triangular, slightly spreading lobes. In color they are brilliant violet-blue.
Downy Gentian is common in dry fields and on prairies from Pa. to Ga. and west to Minn. and Mo., flowering during September and October.
(B) Solitary Gentian (Gentiana Porphyrio) is a pretty little species growing in moist places from southern N. J. to Fla. The simple, slender stem ranges in height from 6 to 15 inches and bears at the summit a solitary, erect, bell-shaped flower, of a light ultramarine blue color; the five spreading lobes are notched at their bases. The flower is very large compared to the stem and leaves of the plant it grows upon; the blossom measures from 2 to 2½ inches long, which is about the length of the linear leaves.
Closed Gentian; Bottle Gentian (Gentiana Andrewsii) is the most abundant of all Gentians. The flowers are as peculiar in their way as those of the Fringed are in theirs. It is remarkable because the five parts of the corolla never spread; the flower remains closed. The flowers are cross-fertilized by the common bumblebee. He knows there is a supply of nectar at the bottom of each blossom and he has the wits and the strength to get at it. Slowly but surely he is able to force the closed lobes apart until his body is half concealed in the “bottle”, and he is able to reach the bottom. As he leaves the flower he is certain to scrape off quantities of pollen on his head and almost sure to leave some of it on the receptive stigma of the next flower visited.
The stem is smooth and simple; it grows from 1 to 2 feet high. The leaves are rather large ovate-pointed, and narrowed into very short, clasping stems. The flowers grow in terminal clusters, set in the axils of the last pairs of leaves. Closed Gentian grows in moist places, often along brooks, from Me. to Manitoba and southward.
DOGBANE FAMILY
(Apocynaceæ)
A small family composed chiefly of poisonous tropical plants usually with milky, acrid juices.