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8

CHAPTER 11 Gentians and Nightshades

Dicotyledonous flowering plants in the orders (and families) Gentianales
(Gentianaceae, gentians; Apocynaceae, periwinkles) and Solanales (Solana-
ceae, nightshades; Convolvulaceae, bindweeds; Cuscutaceae, dodders; Men-
yanthaceae, bogbeans) are included in this chapter.

Gentianaceae

Centaurium erythraea Rafn
C. umbellatum of authors,C. minus of authors
centaury
Europe, western Asia, North Africa, Azores; introduced into North
America, Australasia
Less liable to upset the digestion than most vegetable bitters and so a prefer-
able alternative to ‘gentian’ (under which name, or as ‘red gentian’, it has
passed in some areas),Centaurium erythraea has been recorded very widely
in the British Isles for use as a tonic. Like most tonics it has sometimes been
prized for ‘cleansing the blood’ (hence the name bloodwort recorded for it in
Shropshire^1 ) or ‘strengthening the nerves’ (in the Isle of Scilly^2 and in South
Uist in the Outer Hebrides^3 ), while in the Highlands it has had the special role
of promoting appetite in tubercular patients.^4
Centaury has also enjoyed some subsidiary popularity as an indigestion
remedy (Yorkshire,^5 Lancashire,^6 Cumberland,^7 the Highlands^8 ) and as a cure
for biliousness (Isle of Man^9 ). In Cardiganshire,^10 on the other hand, it has
been used for kidney trouble, and in the Highlands^11 and Outer Hebrides^12
for colic. That heavy emphasis overall on righting and stimulating the system