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Gentianella amarella

Common name:	Felwort	Family:	Gentianaceae
Author:	(L.)Borner.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Gentiana amarella (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to France, Hungary and the Caucasus.
Habitat:	Basic pastures, usually amongst short grass, and dunes[17]
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Amarella acuta[B,P] Amarella plebeja[B,P] Amarella plebeja var. holmii[B,P] Amarella strictiflora[B,P] G. acuta[B,P] G. amarella ssp. acuta[B,CPHOTO,CAL,CAL,P] G. amarella var. acuta[B,P] G. amarella var. plebeja[P] G. strictiflora[B,P] Gentiana acuta[B,P] Gentiana amarella ssp. acuta[B,P] Gentiana amarella var. acuta[B,P] Gentiana amarella var. plebeja[B,P] Gentiana amarella var. stricta[B,P] Gentiana plebeja[B,P] Gentiana plebeja var. holmii[B,P] Gentiana strictiflora[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Autumn Dwarf-gentian [B], Autumn Dwarfgentian [P], Autumn Gentian [L,H], Baldmoney [H], Bitterwort [H], Felwort [H], Slanke Gentiaan [D],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	amarella = somewhat bitter
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Gentianales. Gentian family

Physical Characteristics

Biennial growing to 0.3m. . It is in flower from August to September, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Bach.

This species is one of several that can be used as a source of the medicinal gentian root[4]. Gentian has a long history of use as a herbal bitter in the treatment of digestive disorders. It is especially useful in states of exhaustion from chronic disease and in all cases of debility, weakness of the digestive system and lack of appetite[4]. It is one of the best strengtheners of the human system and is an excellent tonic to combine with a purgative in order to prevent its debilitating effects[4]. The root is anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, bitter tonic, cholagogue, emmenagogue, febrifuge, refrigerant and stomachic[4, 9, 14, 21, 165]. It is harvested in the autumn and dried for later use[4]. It is quite likely that the roots of plants that have not flowered are the richest in medicinal properties[4].
The root is anodyne, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, bitter tonic, cholagogue, emmenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, pectoral, refrigerant, stomachic. A substitute for G. lutea[4, 174, 176, 218].
The plant is used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for prescribing it are 'Doubt', 'Depression' and 'Discouragement''[209].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a damp humus-rich soil and should be planted in a situation approaching its native habitat[200].
An aggregate species, individual plants may show unusual features and determinations should be based on small samples of the population[17].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ as soon as it is ripe in the autumn[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Gentiana amarella (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Gentianella amarella ssp. acuta (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.

References for the family Gentianaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[174] Kariyone. T. Atlas of Medicinal Plants.
A good Japanese herbal.

[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
A very good Chinese herbal.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[209] Chancellor. P. M. Handbook of the Bach Flower Remedies C. W. Daniel Co. Ltd. 1985 ISBN 85207 002 0
Details the 38 remedies plus how and where to prescribe them.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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