Part 46

12. A. phytolaccoides, Pursh. (POKE-MILKWEED.) Stem 3--5 deg. high; _leaves broadly ovate, or the upper oval-lanceolate and pointed at both ends, short-petioled_, smooth or slightly downy underneath (5--8' long); lateral umbels several, _pedicels loose and nodding, numerous, long_ and slender (1--3' long), equalling the peduncle; _corolla-lobes_ ovate-oblong, greenish; hoods (white) truncate, the margins 2-toothed at the summit, _the horn with a long projecting awl-shaped point_.--Moist copses, N. Eng. to Minn., south to Ga. and Ark.

13. A. variegata, L. Stem 1--2 deg. high; _leaves_ (4--5 pairs) _ovate, oval, or obovate_, somewhat wavy, _contracted into short petioles_, middle ones sometimes whorled; _pedicels (numerous and crowded) and peduncle short, downy_; divisions of the _corolla ovate (white)_; hoods orbicular, entire, purplish or reddish, the horn semilunar with a horizontal point.--Dry woods, southern N. Y. to Ind., south to Fla., Ark., and W. La. July.--Remarkable for its compact umbels of nearly white flowers.

[b.] _Leaves mostly pubescent or puberulent; hoods obtuse, entire, twice or thrice the length of the anthers._

14. A. ovalifolia, Decaisne. Low (6--18' high), soft-downy, especially the lower surface of the ovate or lanceolate-oblong acute short-petioled leaves (11/2--3' long); umbels loosely 10--18-flowered, sessile or peduncled; pedicels slender, hoods oblong, yellowish, with a small horn, about the length of the oval greenish-white corolla-lobes (tinged with purple outside).--Prairies and oak-openings, N. Ill. and Iowa, to Wisc. and Dak.

[++][++] _Follicles and pedicels erect; leaves often whorled; glabrous or nearly so._

[=] _Leaves ovate to broadly lanceolate, thin, rather slender-petioled._

15. A. quadrifolia, L. Stem slender (1--2 deg. high), mostly leafless below, bearing usually _one or two whorls_ of four in the middle and one or two pairs _of ovate or ovate-lanceolate_ taper-pointed petioled leaves (2--4' long); pedicels slender; corolla-lobes (_pale pink_) oblong; hoods white, elliptical-ovate, the incurved horn short and thick.--Dry woods and hills, N. Eng. to Minn., south to N. C. and Ark.

16. A. perennis, Walt. Stems (1--2 deg. high) _persistent or somewhat woody at the base; leaves lanceolate or lanceolate-ovate, tapering to both ends_, thin, rather slender-petioled; _flowers white_, small; the small hoods of the crown shorter than the needle-shaped horn; seeds sometimes destitute of a coma!--Low grounds, S. Ind. and Ill. to Tex., and eastward.

[=][=] _Leaves narrowly linear to filiform; horn subulate, exserted; column conspicuous._

17. A. verticillata, L. Stems slender, simple or sparingly branched, very leafy to the summit, leaves filiform-linear, with revolute margins (2--3' long, 1'' wide), 3--6 in a whorl; umbels small, lateral and terminal; divisions of the corolla ovate (greenish-white); hoods roundish-oval, about half the length of the incurved claw-shaped horns.--Dry hills, common, especially southward.--Var. PUMILA, Gray, is low and many-stemmed from a fascicled root; leaves much crowded, filiform.--Dry plains, Neb. to Kan. and N. Mex.

Sec. 2. _Anther-wings broadly rounded at base and conspicuously auriculate-notched just above it; hoods with a minute horn exserted from the 2-lobed apex._

18. A. stenophylla, Gray. Puberulent, but foliage glabrous; stems slender (1--2 deg. high), leaves narrowly linear (3--7' long, 1--21/2'' wide), the upper alternate, lower opposite; umbels several, short-peduncled, 10--15-flowered; corolla-lobes oblong, greenish; hoods whitish, equalling the anthers, conduplicate-concave; follicles erect on ascending pedicels.--Dry prairies, Neb. to E. Kan., south and westward.

3. ACERATES, Ell. GREEN MILKWEED.

Nearly as in Asclepias; but the hoods destitute of crest or horn (whence the name, from [Greek: a] privative, and [Greek: ke/ras], _a horn_).--Flowers greenish, in compact many-flowered umbels. Leaves opposite or irregularly alternate, short-petioled or sessile. Pollen-masses slender-stalked. Follicles smooth, slender.

[*] _Crown upon a short column and shorter than the globular mass of anthers and stigma, leaves mainly alternate-scattered._

1. A. longifolia, Ell. Minutely roughish-hairy or smoothish; stem erect (1--3 deg. high), very leafy; leaves linear (3--7' long); umbels lateral, on peduncles of about the length of the slender pedicels; flowers 3'' long when expanded.--Moist prairies and pine-barrens, Ohio to Minn., south to Fla. and Tex. July--Oct.

[*][*] _Crown sessile, the oblong hoods nearly equalling the anthers; leaves often opposite and broader._

2. A. viridiflora, Ell. Minutely _soft-downy, becoming smoothish_; stems ascending (1--2 deg. high); leaves oval to linear, thick (11/2--4' long); _umbels nearly sessile, lateral_, dense and globose; flower (when the corolla is reflexed) nearly 1/2' long, short-pedicelled.--Dry soil, common, especially southward. July--Sept.--Runs into var. LANCEOLATA, Gray, with lanceolate leaves 21/2--4' long;--and var. LINEARIS, Gray, with elongated linear leaves and low stems; umbels often solitary. The latter form from Minn., Dak., and southward.

3. A. lanuginosa, Decaisne. _Hairy_, low (5--12' high); leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate; _umbel solitary and terminal, peduncled_; flowers smaller; _pedicels slender_.--Prairies, N. Ill. to Minn., and westward. July.

4. ENSLENIA, Nutt.

Calyx 5-parted. Corolla 5-parted; the divisions erect, ovate-lanceolate. Crown of 5 free membranaceous leaflets, which are truncate or obscurely lobed at the apex, where they bear a pair of flexuous awns united at base. Anthers nearly as in Asclepias; pollen-masses oblong, obtuse at both ends, fixed below the summit of the stigma to the descending glands. Follicles oblong-lanceolate, smooth. Seeds with a tuft, as in Asclepias.--A perennial twining herb, smooth, with opposite heart-ovate and pointed long-petioled leaves, and small whitish flowers in raceme-like clusters, on slender axillary peduncles. (Dedicated to _A. Enslen_, an Austrian botanist who collected in the Southern United States early in the present century.)

1. E. albida, Nutt. Climbing 8--12 deg. high; leaves 3--5' wide.--River-banks, S. Penn. and Va. to Ill., Mo., and Tex. July--Sept.

5. VINCETOXICUM, Moench.

Calyx 5-parted. Corolla 5-parted, wheel-shaped. Crown flat and fleshy, disk-like, 5--10-lobed, simple. Anthers, smooth follicles and seeds much as in Asclepias.--Herbs, often twining. (Name from _vincens_, binding, and _toxicum_, poison.)

V. NIGRUM, Moench. More or less twining, nearly smooth; leaves ovate or lance-ovate; flowers small, dark purple, in an axillary cluster, on a peduncle shorter than the leaves.--N. Eng. to Penn.; a weed escaping from gardens. (Adv. from Eu.)

6. GONOLOBUS, Michx.

Calyx 5-parted. Corolla 5-parted, wheel-shaped, sometimes reflexed-spreading; the lobes convolute in the bud. Crown small and fleshy, annular or cup-shaped, in the throat of the corolla. Anthers horizontal, partly hidden under the flattened stigma, opening transversely. Pollen-masses 5 pairs, horizontal. Follicles turgid, mostly muricate with soft warty projections, sometimes ribbed. Seeds with a coma.--Twining herbs or shrubs (ours herbaceous), with opposite heart-shaped leaves, and corymbose-umbelled greenish or dark purple flowers, on peduncles rising from between the petioles. Our species belong to the typical section, with the crown simple and unappendaged, and the corolla nearly veinless. (Name composed of [Greek: goni/a], _an angle_, and [Greek: lobo/s], _a pod_, from the angled follicles of some species.)

[*] _Crown a low undulately 10-lobed fleshy disk; follicles unarmed, glabrous, 3--5-costate or angled._

1. G. suberosus, R. Br. Leaves cordate with an open shallow or sometimes deeper and narrow sinus, pointed, glabrate or hairy (3--5' long); umbels 3--9-flowered, much shorter than the petiole; _corolla broadly conical in bud, abruptly pointed, twisted; lobes ovate_ or triangular-lanceolate, _acute, pubescent inside; calyx half as long_. (G. macrophyllus, _Chapman_.)--Near the coast, Va. to Fla.

2. G. laevis, Michx. Leaves oblong-cordate with a deep and narrow open sinus, conspicuously acuminate (3--6' long); umbels 5--10-flowered, barely equalling the petiole; _corolla elongated-conical in bud, not twisted; lobes narrowly or linear-lanceolate, obtuse, glabrous inside, 3--4 times as long as the calyx_.--South of our range.--Passes into var. MACROPHYLLUS, Gray, with _larger_ broadly cordate _leaves_, the _sinus often closed_, finely pubescent beneath. (G. macrophyllus, _Michx._)--River-banks, Va. to S. Ind., Mo., S. C., and Tex.

[*][*] _Crown cup-shaped, as high as the anthers; follicles muricate, not costate._

[+] _Crown fleshy, merely 10-crenate, or the crenatures bidentate._

3. G. obliquus, R. Br. Leaves rounded- to ovate-cordate with a narrow sinus, abruptly acuminate (3--8' long); _umbel many-flowered; corolla in bud oblong-conical; its lobes linear-ligulate_ (5--6'' long, 1'' wide), crimson-purple inside, dull or greenish and _minutely pubescent outside_.--River-banks, mountains of Penn. and Va., to Ohio and Mo. Flowers said to be fragrant.

4. G. hirsutus, Michx. Commonly more hairy; leaves with the basal lobes sometimes overlapping; _peduncles fewer-flowered; corolla in bud ovate, its lobes elliptical-oblong_ (3--4'' long), _barely puberulent outside_, dull or brownish-purple.--Md. and Va. to Tenn. and Fla.

[+][+] _Crown thinner, the border lobed or toothed; leaves as in the preceding._

5. G. Shortii, Gray. Resembles n. 3, but larger-leaved; corolla oblong-conical in bud, dark crimson-purple, its lobes ligulate (fully 6'' long); _crown about 10-toothed, the alternate teeth thinner, narrower and longer, either emarginate or 2-parted_.--Along the mountains, E. Ky. (_Short_) to N. W. Ga. (_Chapman_).

6. G. Carolinensis, R. Br. Flower-bud oblong; corolla brownish-purple; its lobes oblong or linear-oblong (4--5'' long); _crown undulately and very obtusely 5-lobed and with a longer bifid subulate process in each sinus_.--From Va. to La., extending north to Ark. and central Mo.

ORDER 68. LOGANIACEAE. (LOGANIA FAMILY.)

_Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with opposite and entire leaves, and stipules or a stipular membrane or line between them, and with regular 4--5-merous 4--5-androus perfect flowers, the ovary free from the calyx_; a connecting group between Gentianaceae, Apocynaceae, Scrophulariaceae (from all which they are known by their stipules) and Rubiaceae, from which they differ in their free ovary; our representatives of the family are all most related to the Rubiaceae, to which, indeed, they have been appended.

[*] Woody twiners; leaves evergreen, stigmas 4.

1. Gelsemium. Corolla large, the 5 lobes imbricated in the bud. Style slender.

[*][*] Herbs; stigma single, entire or 2-lobed.

2. Polypremum. Corolla 4-lobed, not longer than the calyx, imbricated in the bud.

3. Spigelia. Corolla 5-lobed, valvate in the bud. Style single, jointed in the middle.

4. Mitreola. Corolla 5-lobed, valvate in the bud. Styles 2, short, converging, united at the summit, and with a common stigma.

1. GELSEMIUM, Juss. YELLOW (FALSE) JESSAMINE.

Calyx 5-parted. Corolla open-funnel-form, 5-lobed; the lobes imbricated in the bud. Stamens 5, with oblong sagittate anthers. Style long and slender; stigmas 2, each 2-parted, the divisions linear. Capsule elliptical, flattened contrary to the narrow partition, 2-celled, septicidally 2-valved. Seeds many or several, winged. Embryo straight, in fleshy albumen; the ovate flat cotyledons much shorter than the slender radicle.--Smooth and twining shrubby plants with ovate or lanceolate leaves, minute deciduous stipules, and showy yellow flowers, of two sorts as to relative length of stamens and style. (_Gelsomino_, the Italian name of the Jessamine.)

1. G. sempervirens, Ait. (YELLOW JESSAMINE of the South.) Stem climbing high; leaves short-petioled, shining, nearly persistent; flowers in short axillary clusters; pedicels scaly-bracted; flowers very fragrant (the bright yellow corolla 1--11/2' long); capsule flat, pointed.--Low grounds, E. Va. to Fla. and Tex. March, April.

2. POLYPREMUM, L.

Calyx 4-parted; the divisions awl-shaped from a broad scarious-margined base. Corolla not longer than the calyx, almost wheel-shaped, bearded in the throat; the 4 lobes imbricated in the bud. Stamens 4, very short; anthers globular. Style 1, very short; stigma ovoid, entire. Capsule ovoid, a little flattened, notched at the apex, 2-celled, loculicidally 2-valved, many-seeded.--A smooth, diffuse, much-branched, small annual, with narrowly linear or awl-shaped leaves, connected at base by a slight stipular line; the small flowers solitary and sessile in the forks and at the ends of the branches; corolla inconspicuous, white. (Name altered from [Greek: poly/premnos], _many-stemmed_.)

1. P. procumbens, L.--Dry fields, mostly in sandy soil, Md. to Tex.; also adventive in Penn. June--Oct.

3. SPIGELIA, L. PINK-ROOT. WORM-GRASS.

Calyx 5-parted; the lobes slender. Corolla tubular-funnel-form, 5-lobed at the summit, valvate in bud. Stamens 5; anthers linear. Style 1, slender, hairy above, jointed near the middle. Capsule short, 2-celled, twin, laterally flattened, separating at maturity from a persistent base into 2 carpels, which open loculicidally, few-seeded.--Chiefly herbs, with opposite leaves united by stipules, and the flowers spiked in one-sided cymes. (Named for _Adrian Spiegel_, latinized _Spigelius_, who wrote on botany early in the 17th century, and was perhaps the first to give directions for preparing an herbarium.)

1. S. Marilandica, L. (MARYLAND PINK-ROOT.) Stems simple and erect from a perennial root (6--18' high); leaves sessile, ovate-lanceolate, acute; spike simple or forked, short; corolla 11/2' long, red outside, yellow within; tube 4 times the length of the calyx, the lobes lanceolate; anthers and style exserted.--Rich woods, N. J. to Wisc. and Tex. June, July.--A well-known officinal anthelmintic, and a showy plant.

4. MITREOLA, L. MITREWORT.

Calyx 5-parted. Corolla little longer than the calyx, somewhat funnel-form, 5-lobed, valvate in the bud. Stamens 5, included. Ovary at the base slightly adnate to the bottom of the calyx, 2-celled; styles 2, short, converging and united above by a common stigma. Capsule exserted, strongly 2-horned or mitre-shaped, opening down the inner side of each horn, many-seeded.--Annual smooth herbs, 6'--2 deg. high, with small stipules between the leaves, and small white flowers spiked along one side of the branches of a terminal petioled cyme. (Diminutive of _mitra_, a mitre, from the shape of the pod.)

1. M. petiolata, Torr. & Gray. Leaves thin, oblong-lanceolate, petioled.--Damp soil, from E. Va. to Tex.

ORDER 69. GENTIANACEAE. (GENTIAN FAMILY.)

_Smooth herbs, with a colorless bitter juice, opposite and sessile entire and simple leaves_ (except in Tribe II.) _without stipules, regular flowers with the stamens as many as the lobes of the corolla, which are convolute (rarely imbricated and sometimes valvate) in the bud, a 1-celled ovary with 2 parietal placentae, or nearly the whole inner face of the ovary ovuliferous; the fruit usually a 2-valved and septicidal many-seeded capsule_.--Flowers solitary or cymose (racemose in n. 8). Calyx persistent. Corolla mostly withering-persistent; the stamens inserted on its tube. Seeds anatropous, with a minute embryo in fleshy albumen. (Bitter-tonic plants.)

SUBORDER I. Gentianeae. Leaves always simple and entire, sessile, never alternate. AEstivation of corolla never valvate.

[*] Lobes of corolla convolute in the bud.

[+] Style filiform, usually deciduous; anthers oblong to linear, mostly twisting or curving in age.

1. Erythraea. Parts of flower 5 or 4; corolla salver-form; anthers twisting spirally.

2. Sabbatia. Parts of flower 5--12; corolla rotate; anthers recurved or revolute.

3. Eustoma. Parts of flower 5 or 6; corolla campanulate-funnel-form; anthers versatile, straight or recurving; calyx-lobes long-acuminate.

[+][+] Style stout and persistent or none; anthers remaining straight.

4. Gentiana. Corolla funnel-form or bell-shaped, mostly plaited in the sinuses, without spurs or glands. Calyx 4--5-cleft.

5. Frasera. Corolla 4-parted, rotate; a fringed glandular spot on each lobe.

6. Halenia. Corolla 4--5-cleft, campanulate, and 4--5-spurred at the base.

[*][*] Lobes of corolla imbricate in the bud; no appendages.

7. Bartonia. Calyx 4-parted. Corolla deeply 4-cleft, somewhat campanulate.

8. Obolaria. Calyx of 2 foliaceous sepals. Corolla 4-lobed, oblong-campanulate.

SUBORDER II. Menyantheae. Leaves all alternate and mostly petioled, sometimes trifoliolate or crenate. AEstivation of corolla induplicate-valvate. Marsh or aquatic perennials.

9. Menyanthes. Corolla bearded inside. Leaves 3-foliolate.

10. Limnanthemum. Corolla naked, or bearded on the margins only. Leaves simple, rounded.

1. ERYTHRAEA, Richard. CENTAURY.

Calyx 4--5-parted, the divisions slender. Corolla funnel-form or salver-form, with slender tube and 4--5-parted limb. Anthers exserted, erect, twisting spirally. Style slender, single; stigma capitate or 2-lipped.--Low and small branching annuals, chiefly with rose-purple or reddish flowers (whence the name, from [Greek: e)rythro/s], _red_); in summer.

E. CENTAURIUM, Pers. (CENTAURY.) Stem upright (6--12' high), _corymbosely branched_ above; leaves oblong or elliptical, acutish, the basal rosulate, the uppermost linear; _cymes clustered, flat-topped, the flowers all nearly sessile_; tube of the (purple-rose-colored) corolla not twice the length of the oval lobes.--Waste grounds, shores of Lakes Ontario and Michigan. (Adv. from Eu.)

E. RAMOSISSIMA, Pers. Low (2--6' high); _stem many times forked above and forming a diffuse cyme_; leaves ovate-oblong or oval, not rosulate below; _flowers all on short pedicels_; tube of the (pink-purple) corolla thrice the length of the elliptical-oblong lobes.--Wet or shady places, N. J., E. Penn., and southward. (Nat. from Eu.)

E. SPICATA, Pers. Stem strictly upright (6--10' high); the _flowers sessile and spiked along one side of the simple or rarely forked branches_; leaves oval and oblong, rounded at base, acutish; tube of the (rose-colored or whitish) corolla scarcely longer than the calyx, the lobes oblong.--Sandy sea-shore, Nantucket, Mass., and Portsmouth, Va. (Nat. from Eu.)

2. SABBATIA, Adans.

Calyx 5--12-parted, the divisions slender. Corolla 5--12-parted, wheel-shaped. Stamens 5--12; anthers soon recurved. Style 2-cleft or -parted, slender.--Biennials or annuals, with slender stems, and cymose-panicled handsome (white or rose-purple) flowers, in summer. (Dedicated to _L. Sabbati_, an early Italian botanist.)

[*] _Corolla 5-parted, or rarely 6--7-parted._

[+] _Branches all opposite and stems more or less 4-angled; flowers cymose; calyx with long and slender lobes._

[++] _Corolla white, often turning yellowish in drying._

1. S. paniculata, Pursh. _Stem brachiately much-branched_ (1--2 deg. high); _leaves linear or the lower oblong, obtuse, 1-nerved_, nearly equalling the internodes; calyx-lobes much shorter than the corolla.--Low grounds, Va. to Fla.

2. S. lanceolata, Torr. & Gray. _Stem simple_ (2--3 deg. high) bearing a flat-topped cyme; _leaves ovate-lanceolate or ovate, 3-nerved_, the upper acute, much shorter than the internodes; calyx-lobes longer and flowers larger than in n. 1.--Wet pine barrens, N. J. to Fla.

[++][++] _Corolla rose-pink, rarely white, with a yellowish or greenish eye._

3. S. brachiata, Ell. _Stem slightly angled_, simple below (1--2 deg. high); _leaves linear and linear-oblong, obtuse_, or the upper acute; branches rather few-flowered, forming an oblong panicle; calyx-lobes nearly half shorter than the corolla.--Dry or low places, Ind. and N. C. to La. and Fla.

4. S. angularis, Pursh. _Stem somewhat 4-winged-angled_, much branched above (1--21/2 deg. high), many-flowered; _leaves ovate_, acutish, 5-nerved, with a _somewhat heart-shaped clasping_ base; calyx-lobes one third or half the length of the corolla.--Rich soil, N. Y. to Ont. and Mich., south to Fla. and La.

[+][+] _Branches alternate (or the lower opposite in n. 5); peduncles 1-flowered_.

[++] _Calyx-lobes foliaceous._

5. S. calycosa, Pursh. Diffusely forking, pale, 1 deg. high or less; leaves oblong or lance-oblong, narrowed at base; calyx-lobes spatulate-lanceolate ({2/3}--1' long), exceeding the rose-colored or almost white corolla.--Sea-coast and near it, Va. to Tex.

[++][++] _Calyx-lobes slender and tube very short (prominently costate in n. 6, and longer, nearly or quite enclosing the retuse capsule)._

6. S. campestris, Nutt. Span or two high, divergently branched above; leaves ovate with subcordate clasping base (1/2--1' long), on the branches lanceolate; calyx equalling the lilac corolla (11/2--2' broad).--Prairies, S. E. Kan. and W. Mo. to Tex.

7. S. stellaris, Pursh. Loosely branched and forking; _leaves oblong to lanceolate_, the upper narrowly linear; _calyx-lobes awl-shaped-linear, varying from half to nearly the length of the bright rose-purple corolla_; style nearly 2-parted.--Salt marshes, Mass. to Fla. Appears to pass into the next; corolla in both at times pink or white.

8. S. gracilis, Salisb. _Stem very slender_, at length diffusely branched; branches and long peduncles filiform; _leaves linear_, or the lower lance-linear, the uppermost similar to the _setaceous calyx-lobes, which equal the rose-purple corolla_; style cleft to the middle.--Brackish marshes, Nantucket, Mass., and N. J., to Fla. and La.

9. S. Elliottii, Steud. Effusely much branched; _leaves small_, lower cauline (6'' long or less) thickish, _from obovate to lanceolate_, upper narrowly linear and rather longer, on the flowering branches subulate; _calyx-lobes slender-subulate, very much shorter than the white corolla_; style 2-parted.--Pine barrens, S. Va. (?) to Fla.

[*][*] _Corolla 8--12-parted, large (about 2' broad)._

10. S. chloroides, Pursh. Stem (1--2 deg. high), loosely panicled above; peduncles slender, 1-flowered; leaves oblong-lanceolate; calyx-lobes linear, half the length of the deep rose-colored (rarely white) corolla.--Borders of brackish ponds, Mass. to Fla. and Ala.

3. EUSTOMA, Salisb.

Calyx 5- (rarely 6-) parted; its lobes long-acuminate, with carinate midrib. Corolla campanulate-funnel-form, deeply 5--6-lobed. Anthers oblong, versatile, straight or recurving in age. Style filiform, nearly persistent; stigma of 2 broad lamellae.--Glaucous large-flowered annuals, with more or less clasping and connate leaves, and slender terminal and more or less paniculate 1-flowered peduncles. (From [Greek: eu~)], _well_, and [Greek: sto/ma], _mouth_, alluding to the open-mouthed corolla.)

1. E. Russellianum, Griseb. One or two feet high; leaves from ovate- to lanceolate-oblong; lobes of lavender-purple corolla obovate (11/2' long), 4 times longer than the tube; anthers hardly curving in age.--Neb. to Tex.

4. GENTIANA, Tourn. GENTIAN.

Calyx 4--5-cleft. Corolla 4--5-lobed, regular, usually with intermediate plaited folds, which bear appendages or teeth at the sinuses. Style short or none; stigmas 2, persistent. Capsule oblong, 2-valved; the innumerable seeds either borne on placentae at or near the sutures, or in most of our species covering nearly the whole inner face of the pod.--Flowers solitary or cymose, showy, in late summer and autumn. (Name from _Gentius_, king of Illyria, who used some species medicinally.)

Sec. 1. GENTIANELLA. _Corolla (not rotate) destitute of extended plaits or lobes or teeth at the sinuses; root annual._