Gentian Family (Gentianaceæ)
(A) Rose Pink (Sabatia angularis) is the most widely distributed of the Sabbatias. Whereas the rest of the tribe are confined in a range very close to the seacoast, this species is commonly found in rich ground in all the states from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic. Its period of bloom is during July and August.
The ovate-lanceolate leaves are stemless and seated oppositely on the stem. The branches usually divide near their ends, each division bearing a beautiful flower about an inch across. At the centre of the five-parted, pink corolla is a yellow-green star, a feature that is quite characteristic with members of this family.
(B) Sea Pink (Sabatia stellaris) is a beautiful, slender species common on salt marshes from Me. to Fla. The pink flowers grow singly at the ends of the slender branches. Like that of the last species, the centre is yellow-green but is often edged with a deep crimson which adds greatly to the attractiveness of the blossom.
Large Marsh Pink; Sabbatia (Sabatia dodecandra) is the largest-flowered and the most beautiful species of this genus; in fact, it is one of the most delicately beautiful of our wild flowers.
During July and August, along the Atlantic Coast, we sometimes find brackish ponds, the shores and muddy flats of which have a ruddy glow owing to the number of these large, attractive blossoms that appear. The stems are slender and wiry, and but little branched; they attain heights of 1 to 2 feet, each branch bearing usually but a single blossom.
The flowers measure from 2 to 2½ inches across; the nine to twelve petals are a delicate rose color and each has, at its base, a yellow-green spot margined by a three-pointed ochre or crimson border. The corolla has a regular, symmetrical wheel-like appearance, the petals making the spokes and the yellow centre forming the hub. The calyx is composed of linear sepals to the same number as the petals. The stamens are quite widely separated from the slender style, so that self-fertilization is hardly to be expected.
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 bud. 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 southward.
(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.