Closed Gentian

Order: Gentianales

Family: Gentianaceae

Genus: Gentiana

Species: G. andrewsii

Identifying Characteristics:

-Plant Type: This is a herbaceous plant, it is a perennial which can reach 61cm in height (24inches)

-Leaves: The leaf arrangement is opposite. Leaves can reach 10cm in length (4inches). Each leaf is lanceolate entire and stemless.

-Flowers: The flowers have 5 Regular Parts and are up to 3.5cm long (1.5 inches). They are blue sometimes violet. Blooms first appear in mid summer and continue into mid fall. The corolla appears completely closed but can be opened at the top.

- The flowers are clustered at the top of the plant or in the axis of the top leaves. The stems are 30 to 60 cm long, lax in habit, producing sprawling plants with upturned ends ending with clusters of bee pollinated flowers.

Special Adaptations:

-Habitat: Moist fields or open woods

- The bitter root has long been used as a tonic and is known to be an appetite stimulant. The Cherokee used it as a tonic, cathartic and laxative as well as to treat a weak stomach and, oddly, hysterical affections