The bottle gentian, Gentiana andrewsii, is a hardy, native perennial that blooms from September into October. The flower never actually opens – that’s where the plant’s other common name, closed gentian, comes from. The bumblebee is the main pollinator for this species, since it’s just about the only insect burly and determined enough to push its way into the tiny opening at the tip of the blossom.

Bottle gentians thrive in part to full sun. The key to their well-being is moist soil and an undisturbed location. They can be found in damp, open fields, floodplains, and even roadside ditches in remote areas of Northeastern Ohio. Deer leave them alone for the most part because most parts of the plant contain an extremely bitter plant chemical called seco-iridiods.

There are species of gentian native to Europe as well. There, the bitter substances found in the roots gave rise to a number of medicinal uses. Here in the U.S. the Native Americans used gentian root to treat snakebite and digestive problems. A patent medicine made from gentian, called “Moxie” was marketed in 1876. It was later sold as a soft drink and is actually still made and sold in New England as a nostalgic specialty.

I’ve never tried “Moxie”, although I mean to one day. Right now, it’s enough of a tonic for me to stroll into the Japanese Garden and be amazed at the brilliant, unearthly blue of gentian flowers.

Posted by Ann McCulloh

Tags: blue flowers, medicinal plants, native plants

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 9:35 am and is filed under Ann McCulloh, Perennial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.