ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 173 



CVIII.—GENTIANACE^. 



for 



defined by Jussleu, and so accurately that all his genera, with two or three exceptTonsrare st7l 

 retained. Brown afterwards revised the character, and removed one of Jussieu's genera bit 

 placed in it one or two others rAfitrasanrnf! nnA Tnnn^:!r,\ o;„„« j x_ r ®. ' 



( Mitrasacme and Lognnia) 

 dicatins' that the last. mirrVif «r.'fi, c^.v,„ 



the type of the order since adopted. This is an interesting order, owing to the extent V its 



hottest 



sands of the tropics ; the diversity of its colours, and the uniformity of its sensible pro- 

 perties, (jriesbach has recently revised the order with much rare fnr DP 'a P.^^.^ — . 



Character of the Order. Calyx free, persistent, 4-5-Iobed, rarely 6-12, sepals coherinir 

 valvate in aestivation Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, persistent, regular, or bilabiate m 

 Lamcora, the lobes alternate with the segments of the calyx, contorted to the left in estivation 

 induplicate m MenyanthecB, Stamens inserted on the tube of the corolla, alternate with its 

 Jobes; filaments free; anthers 2- celled, erect or incumbent, occasionally at length twisted 

 Os^ary single, one-celled, composed of 2 carpels with intro-flexed margins, hence half two-celled * 

 ovules numerous, anatropous, attached to the margins of the valves ; style simple, stigmas two 

 or one. Capsule one or imperfectly 2- or 4-celled, septicidal, placentas parietal. Seed usually 

 numerous; albumen fleshy; embryo axile, minute, cylindrical, straight; radicle thickened, 

 directed to the hilum ; cotyledons fleshy, short.— Herbaceous or frutescent plants, usually glab- 

 rous, bitter, not milky. Leaves opposite, rarely alternate, simple 3-5-ribbed, entire or 3-lobed, 

 m Menyanthes, exstipulate, petioles often confluent at the base. Flowers terminal, or axillary^ 

 regular or rarely irregular. [In Ophelia there are 4 carpels as shown by the 4 placentse.l 



Affinities. Nearly all Botanists seem now agreed in as 

 placed, viewing the three preceding orders as its nearest allies. 



su 



I 



rfulariaceos and PolemoniacecB 



am unable to say, but presume that the additional light which has been thrown on botanical 

 affinities, to which he has himself so largely contributed, has tended to produce some alteration. 



jfularia 



fOcufiacecB. 



master 



•ece^ he considers it cut off by the placentation. I say "collaterally" 

 With Solatiacece because he does not even mention that order under Gentianacece^ but remarks 

 of the Gentianal Alliance, ^that it touches Solonals at Nightshades themselves, which, if they 

 had parietal placentae, might often be mistaken for Gentian worts ; and at Dogbanes whose 

 minute embryo offers one of the principal reasons for not associating them in the same alliance 

 ^ith Ascleplads."*' I do not myself coincide with him in either of these examples, but probably 

 ^ould not have ventured to express an opinion in opposition to such a ' "* '' 

 had I not been borne out by the nearly general sense of Botanists* 



Geographical DistributioiN'. In the extent of its geographical distribntion, this is a 

 ^^y r^niarkable famfly, its species extending from the regions of almost perpetual congelation 

 of either pole to the equator, where they are found luxuriating in arid sandy plains. The 

 genus Gentiana is especially remarkabfe for the width of its geographical range, extending from 

 the Arctic to the Antarctic circle; nay more, a single species (Gent, prostrata) *'liag a most 



extraordinary range both in latitude and longitude. In Southern Europe it inhabits the 



Carpathian Alps between 6,000 and 9,000 feet high; in Asia, it has been found on the Altai 



fountains about N. iat. 52*^.' Its American range is much more remarkable, it having been gather- 



ea on the tops of the Rocky Mountains in Iat. 52"* N. where they attain an elevation of 1 5,000 to 

 10,000 feet ; and on the east side of the Andes of South America in S5^ South : it descends to the 

 level of the sea at Cape Negro, in the Straits of Magellan in Iat. 53 S. ; and at Cape Good Hope 

 ^» Behrings Straits in Iat. 68^^ North,''—/. D. Hooker. Several species of Gentiana, are 



CC 



