Gentianaceae

Gentianaceae [‚jen·chə′nās·ē‚ē]

(botany)

A family of dicotyledonous herbaceous plants in the order Gentianales distinguished by lacking stipules and having parietal placentation.

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Gentianaceae 

a family of dicotyledonous plants.

Gentianaceae are primarily herbs with opposite (sometimes verticillate) entire leaves. The flowers, most commonly gathered into clusters, are usually large and brightly colored, bisexual, regular, and tetramerous or pentamerous (or, rarely, with six to 12 members); the gynoecium is dimerous with a superior ovary. There are more than 70 genera (about 1,000 species), growing mostly in temperate and subtropical regions (especially in mountainous areas). Nine genera (more than 125 species) are found in the USSR; of these the most important are Gentiana and Erythraea. Almost all members of the family contain bitter glycosides. Some Gentianaceae are used in medicine and in floriculture.

REFERENCES

Grossgeim, A. A. “Gorechavkovye.” In Flora SSSR, vol. 18. Moscow-Leningrad, 1962.
Takhtadzhian, A. L. Sistema i filogeniia tsvetkovykh rastenii. Moscow-Leningrad, 1966.

M. E. KIRPICHNIKOV