One of the choice wildflowers that we rarely see these days is the fringed gentian, Gentiana Erinita.
It is an elusive plant, and if you have the good fortune to find it covering a corner of a damp meadow one year, do not count on seeing it there the next. It is a biennial and, therefore, depends on having its seeds reach the ground to survive.
It blooms in September, and the late Autumn winds shake free the little hairy scales which often travel far, but only those germinate which strike the moist earth at the end of their journey.
Blue flowers are rare, especially in the autumn; thus, when we glimpse the gentian’s heavenly blue, we can hardly believe our eyes.
The corolla is tubular, and the four-lobed petals are rounded and fringed. The plant grows about a foot high with a single flower at the end of a stiff stem.
Gentiana Quinquefolia “Stiff Gentian”
The five-flowered or stiff gentian, Gentiana quinquefolia, has its five-parted, blue flowers arranged in clusters at the ends of its branches or in the leaf axils.
The slender-branching, rigid stems may rise only five inches in dry soil or perhaps two feet in the rich, moist, rocky ground where it grows to perfection, especially in mountainous regions.
It appears in August to the south but may not be found in the Catskills until September; it is in its glory in Ontario in October.
The gentians are mountain flowers, and 13 species may be seen in half an hour’s walk in the Alps.
Gentiana Andretti
A third gentian native in New England is the closed or bottle gentian, Gentiana andretti. This is a perennial plant, and once established will continue in the same place for years.
It may be picked in moderation, whereas the fringed gentian and the five-flowered gentians should never be picked.
The closed or bottle gentian is an intense deep blue; closed like a bud, it seems to promise that it will soon open, but it stays closed until the seeds are ripe.
We gathered seeds of this interesting wildflower not far from the Charles River and raised some seedlings, which had grown and stayed in the same small plantations for many years, except when a scythe, unfortunately, mowed them down.
Our Society has many requests for wildflower seeds. If our friends would kindly gather some for us, we should be very grateful.
Just place them in small envelopes, plainly marked, and send them to the New England Wild Flower Preservation Society, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston 13, Massachusetts.
44659 by Ruth D. Grew