Gentianaceae

The gentian family in Belgium:
The Gentianaceae are a global family of herbs, shrubs, and trees. In Belgium, we have only a few species and all of them are herbaceous. The family is easy to recognise by the combination of opposite, hairless leaves, with toothless margins. The flowers are usually colourful and pollinated by bees and butterflies. The plants of this family typically have a bitter taste, which has led to them being used as a flavouring in some drinks.
Centaurium erythraea (common centaury) is perhaps the most common species; it can be found along roadsides and is not uncommon as a weed in cities. However, many other species of this family are rare and endangered. Gentiana pneumonanthe (marsh gentian) is declining because the bogs it grows on have either been drained or converted to forestry, while species of calcareous grassland, such as Gentianella campestris (field gentian) are declining due to changing grazing patterns and the agricultural “improvement” of grassland.

The Belgian Herbarium:
The Botanic Garden Meise holds the largest herbarium collection of Belgian plant specimens. Each of these herbarium specimens has a label with valuable information such as the plant’s identification, and when, where, and who collected the plant. These specimens can be used in many domains of research, such as conservation, evolution, ecology and systematics. These data help us to better understand the plants of Belgium, their history and that of people who collected them. There are about 200,000 specimens in the Belgian Herbarium of the Botanic Garden Meise and we want to document them all! These data will then be made available online at www.botanicalcollections.be.

Keywords (Latin):
Belgium, Gentianaceae, Herbae, Hortus Botanicus Meise, Botanica.