Gentiana lutea

 ( Lutea ) 

Gentiana lutea, the great yellow gentian, is a species of gentian native to the of central and southern Europe, including the Alps, the Carpathians (where scarce), the Pyrenees, the Apennines, and the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula. It is the type species of the genus Gentiana.

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Description Gentiana lutea is a herbaceous perennial plant, growing to tall, with broad lanceolate to elliptic glabrous leaf long and broad, borne in opposite pairs. The are yellow, 18–24 mm long, with the corolla separated nearly to the base into 5–7 narrow petals; they are produced in whorls of 3–10 together on the upper part of the stem. Flowering is from June to August. It grows in grassy Alpine climate and sub-alpine pastures, usually on calcareous soils, at altitudes of up to 2500 m.

(1989). 9780340401705, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9780340401705

(1992). 9781561590018, Macmillan Press ; Stockton Press. ISBN 9781561590018

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Uses Gentiana lutea is remarkable for the intense bitterness of the root and every part of the herbage. Gentian was used occasionally in brewing.

Gentian root has a long history of use as a herbal bitter and is an ingredient of many proprietary medicines. The parts used include the dried, underground parts of the plant. The root is long and thick, usually about long and diameter, but sometimes 90 cm or more long and 5 cm in diameter, yellowish-brown in colour and very bitter in taste. The rhizome and roots are collected in autumn and dried. Caution should be exercised as to its use because it is endangered in some regions, although the species as a whole is not threatened. The related species Centaurium erythraea shares many of its constituents and actions.

The name is a tribute to Gentius, an Illyrian king who was thought to have found out that the herb had tonic properties.

In veterinary pharmacopeia in the 1860s, gentian root or gentian radix was considered useful as a tonic and stomachic.page 126 of

Extracts of gentian root can be found in several liqueurs. It is used in France to produce a number of bitter liqueurs (), including Salers in the Cantal, and a Limousin specialty liqueur and aperitif called . The plants are now cultivated in the Auvergne area in view of their protected status, and they are no longer harvested from the wild in the Auvergne mountains.

The European Gentian Association in Lausanne has the objective to develop the knowledge and uses of yellow gentian and other species of Gentianaceae.

Gentiana lutea is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian 2000 Albanian lek banknote, issued in 2008. The note depicts King Gentius on its obverse. Bank of Albania. Currency: "Banknotes in circulation". . Bank of Albania. Retrieved on 23 March 2009.

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Chemical constituents The bitter principles of gentian root are secoiridoid amarogentin and gentiopicrin. The former is one of the most bitter natural compounds known "Heilpflanzen: Gentiana lutea" and is used as a scientific basis for measuring bitterness.

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External links

• Flower Gallery :: Gentianaceae
• Gentiana lutea L. Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

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