Blind Gentian.Gentiana Andrewsii.Closed Gentian.
Found in rich woodlands and pastures, blossoming in September and October.
The single leafy stalk, from 1 foot to 18 inches in height, is round, stout, smooth, and green.
The leaf is large (from 2 to 4 inches long), usually bread oval in shape, tapering to the tip, with an entire margin, and a thick texture; the surface is smooth, and the color a rich green that is frequently weather-worn and rusty. The leaves are set in pairs upon the stalk.
The flower is like a closed bud which never opens, an inflated club-shape from 1 to 1 and ½ inches in length; the corolla is a dark purple-blue color, growing lighter near the base, and in its folds; the 5-parted calyx is more or less green. The flowers are gathered together in a close cluster of four or five, upon the summit of the stalk, amidst the numerous green leaves.
The color of the closed gentian, being low and rich in tone rather than brilliant, loses greatly in value when gathered and fetched into the subdued light of the house.