PLATE XXVI. 



1. GENT! ANA ACAULIS. 



LARGE-FLOWERED GENTIAN. 



Tins genus of plants is of the hardy hcibaceous perennial 

 liowery kind. 



It belongs to the class and order renta/ulria Digij/tia, and ranks in 

 the natural order of liotacctr. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a five-parted perianthiuin, 

 sharp: divisions oblong, permanent: the corolla has one petal, tubu- 

 lar at bottom, imperforate, at top five-cleft, flat, withering, various in 

 form: the stamina have five filaments, subulate, shorter than the co- 

 rolla : anther simple: the pistillum is an oblong germ, cylindric, 

 length of the stamens: styles none: stigmas two, ovate : (germ supe- 

 rior; style simple, or two sessile stigmas:) the pcricarpium is an 

 oblong capsule, columnar, acuminate, slightly bifid at the tip, one- 

 celled; two-valved: the seeds numerous, small, fixed all round to the 

 walls of the capsule: receptacles two, each fastened longitudinally to 

 a valve. 



The species cultivated are: 1. G. lutea. Yellow Gentian; 2. G. 

 punctata. Spotted-flowered Gentian ; 3. G. asckpiadea. Swallow- 

 wort-leaved Gentian; 4. G. acnulis. Dwarf Gentian, or Gentianella. 



The first has a thick root, of a yellowish brown colour, and very 

 bitter taste : the lower leaves are pelioled, oblong-ovate, a little 

 pointed, stiff, yellowish green, having five large veins on the back, 

 and plaited: the stem three or four feet high or more, with a pair 

 of leaves at each joint, sessile or almost embracing, of the same form 

 with the lower ones, but diminishing gradually to the top: the 

 flowers arc in whorls at the upper joints. It is a native of Switzerland, 

 flowering in June and July. 



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