Gentiana
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 Gentiana verna
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Gentiana (pronounced /ˌdʒɛntʃiˈeɪnə/)[1] is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Gentian family (Gentianaceae), tribe Gentianeae and monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species, it is considered a large genus.
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[edit] Habitat
This is a cosmopolitan genus, occurring in alpine habitats of temperate regions of Asia, Europe and the Americas. Some species also occur in northwest Africa, eastern Australia and New Zealand. They consist of annual, biennial and perennial plants. Some are evergreen, others are not.
Many gentians are difficult to grow outside their wild habitat, but several species are available in cultivation. Gentians are fully hardy and like full sun or partial shade, and neutral to acid soil that is rich in humus and well drained. They are popular in rock gardens.
The name is a tribute to the Illyrian King Gent who used the flower to heal his wounded soldiers. The best known city in the Illyrian Empire where the flower was found is located in Southwest of Montenegro today, called Sac (Shas-Albanian)
[edit] Uses
[edit] Medicinal uses
According to Pliny the Elder, Gentian is an eponym of Gentius (180-168 BC), the King of Illyria, said to have discovered its healing properties. Some species are of medicinal use and their roots were harvested for the manufacture of tonic liquor like Suze or similar liquors.
[edit] Drink uses
Gentian is also used as a flavouring, for example in bitters, and the soft drink "Moxie" which contains "Gentian Root Extractives".
The French liqueur Suze is also made from blue gentian. The Italian Brewery Del Borgo brews a beer, geniziana, with gentian as an adjunct.
[edit] Species
[edit] General
Gentians have opposite leaves that are sometimes arranged in a basal rosette, and trumpet-shaped flowers that are usually deep blue or azure, but may vary from white, creamy and yellow to red. Many species also show considerable polymorphism with respect to flower color. Typically, blue-flowered species predominate in the Northern Hemisphere, with red-flowered species dominant in the Andes (where bird pollination is probably more heavily favored by natural selection). White-flowered species are scattered throughout the range of the genus but dominate in New Zealand. All gentian species have terminal tubular flowers and most are pentamerous, i.e. with 5 corolla lobes (petals), and 5 sepals, but 4-7 in some species. The style is rather short or absent. The corolla shows folds (= plicae) between the lobes. The ovary is mostly sessile and has nectary glands.
[edit] Species classification
[edit] Gentian in Culture
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (July 2009) |
- Gentian is mentioned in the ninth of Rainer Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies.
- "Gentian" is the title of a short story by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.
- "Bavarian Gentians" is the name of a poem by D. H. Lawrence.
- It is mentioned multiple times in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. Also, a character in the book is named Enzian, which is the German term for Gentian.
- A poem by William Cullen Bryant is entitled "To the Fringed Gentian."
- The Gentian is referenced in Emily Dickinson's poem number 442: "God made a little Gentian-// It tried- to be a Rose-"
[edit] References
- Lena Struwe (Editor), Victor A. Albert (Editor), Gentianaceae , Cambridge University Press, 2002; ISBN 0521809991
- Gentian Research Network
- Medical Benefits of Gentian
- ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
