IBS GENTIANE^. [Villa 



4. Chlora. Linn. Yellow-wort. 



Calyx 8-parted. Corolla hypocrateriform ; the tube short, the 

 limb 8-parterl. Stamens 8, very short, inserted in the orifice. 

 Style 1. Stigma 4-cleft. Capsule 1-celled. — Name derived 

 from xkwpo'i. pale or yellowish-green, in allusion to the colour 

 of its flowers. Octandria. Monogynia. 



1. C. perfoliata, Linn. Perfoliate Yellow-wort. Leaves 

 perfoliate; panicle forked, manv-flowered. Br. Fl. I. p. 174. 

 E. FL v. ii. p. 218. E. Bat. t. 60. 



Plentiful in the County of Dublin, chiefly on a limestone soil ; (it is 

 however found in fields about Kingstown over granite.) At the marble 

 quarries near Kilkenny, and in Lord Desert's demesne. South Isles of 

 Arran ; Messrs. Ball and Thomson. Not found in the northern 

 counties or in Scotland. Fl. July — .Sept. ©. 



§ Menyanthece. 

 Leaves alternate, usually toothed or divided. 



5. Menyanthes. Linn. Buck-bean. 



Calyx 5- parted, Corolla funnel-shaped; the limb spreading, 

 5-parted, bearded internally, with a simple margin. Stigma 

 capitate, with from two to five furrows. Glands 5, hypogy- 

 nous, alternate with the stamens. Capsule 1-celled, 2-valved ; 

 the valves bearing the seed in their axis. Leaves ternate. — 

 Name [invrj, a month, and avOos, a. flower. Sir J. E. Smith 

 says the blossoms continue in perfection about a month. 



Pentandria. Monogynia. 



1. M. trifbliala, Linn. Common Buck-bean. Leaves ter- 

 nate; disk of the corolla densely shaggy. Br. Fl. 1. p. 91. E. 

 Fl. v. i. p. 274. E. Bot. t. 495. 



Marshy places, boggy ground, &c. frequent. Fl. June, July. 3£ . — 

 Moots densely creeping and matted, so as often to render the boggy 

 ground firm where the plant grows. Leaves ternate, stalked ; leaflets 

 obovate, obscurely toothed. The base of the leaf is sheathing, whence 

 arises & flower-stalk supporting a compound raceme or thyrsus, of 

 many white flowers, tipped externally with red and beautifully fringed 

 with white filaments within. " In the Highlands of Scotland, employed 

 as tea, it is considered to strengthen weak stomachs. It cures the dis- 

 ease called darn in cattle ; and is sometimes used as a substitute for 

 hops, (Mr. Gibb.J All these qualities indicate the bitter principle 

 which abounds so much in the Gentian tribe.'" Hooker. 



5. Villarsia. Vent. Villarsia. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla somewhat rotate, the limb spreading, 

 5-parted, smooth in the disk, bearded or scaly at the base, 



