140 GENTIAN. 



Gentle Hawthorn, thrive 



And, for ever alive, 

 May'st thou blossom as now in thy prime; 



By the wind unbroke. 



And the thunderstroke, 

 Unspoil'd by the axe of time. 



THE GENTIAN. 



This genus of plant has received its name in honour of 

 Gentius, a King of Illyria, who is said to have discovered 

 one of the species of it. He is also supposed to have 

 experienced its virtues on his army, as a cure for the 

 plague. 



The Gentians are very numerous, and many of them 

 eminently beautiful. They are generally very difficult to 

 preserve in a garden ; and, being long-rooted, very few are 

 adapted for planting in pots. The smaller kinds, however, 

 may be so cultivated : as the Swallow- wort-leaved, which 

 does not exceed a foot in height, and has large light-blue 

 bell-shaped flowers, blowing in July and August. The roots 

 only are perennial ,• the stalks decay annually : and of most 

 of the species the flowers appear but once in two or three 

 years. The March Gentian has also fine blue flowers, 

 though few in number, and blows in August and Septem- 

 ber. This species grows naturally in England and many 

 other parts of Europe. 



