230 * BLUE TO PURPLE 



NORTHERN GENTIAN 



Gentiana acuta. Gentian Family 



Stems: leafy, slightly wing-angled, simple or branched. Leaves: lower 

 ones obovate, obtuse, the upper ones lanceolate, acute at the apex, sub- 

 cordate at the base, sessile or somewhat clasping. Flowers: numerous, 

 racemose-spicate, pedicelled, leafy-bracted at base : calyx five-parted, 

 the lobes linear ; corolla five-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, acute, each 

 with a fimbriate crown at the base. 



A very common Gentian is this little Northern species, and 

 it may readily be distinguished by the fringed crown set 

 within the throat of the corolla-tube. The flowers are quite 

 numerous, growing in clusters on short stiff stalks that spring 

 out of the main stem ; they are usually pinkish-purple, but 

 sometimes white. The traveller should specially note that the 

 corolla is divided into five lobes at the top, and that the tiny 

 roots grow close to the surface of the soil and are very easily 

 pulled up. 



G. propinqua, or Four-parted Gentian, is somewhat like the 

 preceding species, but has larger, brighter blue flowers, which 

 are not nearly so closely clustered together; and it is a much 

 more graceful plant. The corolla is four-parted, or cut into 

 four lobes, as the name implies, and the calyx is also four- 

 cleft. These Gentians are occasionally white. 



G. arctopJiila, or Alpine Gentian, is a tiny dwarf species 

 resembling G. propinqiia. It is found at immense altitudes. 



G. prostrata, or Dwarf Gentian, has very weak and often 

 procumbent stems. The leaves are covered with a soft white 

 bloom and have white hairy margins, while the flowers are 

 solitary and of a lovely azure-blue colour, also very occasion- 

 ally white. It is an exceedingly tiny plant, and has been found 

 at an elevation of 10,000 feet. 



