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Webster 1913 Edition

Gentian

Gen′tian

(jĕn′shan or jĕn′shĭ-an)
,
Noun.
[OE.
genciane
, F.
gentiane
, L.
gentiana
, fr.
Gentius
, an Illyrian king, said to have discovered its properties.]
(Bot.)
Any one of a genus (
Gentiana
) of herbaceous plants with opposite leaves and a tubular four- or five-lobed corolla, usually blue, but sometimes white, yellow, or red. See Illust. of
Capsule
.
☞ Many species are found on the highest mountains of Europe, Asia, and America, and some are prized for their beauty, as the Alpine (
Gentiana verna
,
Gentiana Bavarica
, and
Gentiana excisa
), and the American fringed gentians (
Gentiana crinita
and
Gentiana detonsa
). Several are used as tonics, especially the bitter roots of
Gentiana lutea
, the officinal gentian of the pharmacopoeias.
Horse gentian
,
fever root.
–
Yellow gentian
(Bot.)
,
the officinal gentian (
Gentiana lutea
). See
Bitterwort
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Gentian

GEN'TIAN

,
Noun.
[L. gentiana.] A genus of plants, of many species. The common gentian is a native of the mountainous parts of Germany. The root,the only part used, has a yellowish brown color and a very bitter taste, and is used as an ingredient in stomachic bitters. It is sometimes called felwort.

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