B70 LXXVIII. GENTIANEiE. 



J 



ce]ls, or rarely completely 2-celled ; ovules iiunicrous ; style single, entire or 

 ^vith 2 short' stigmatic lobes. Fruit a capsule, opening septicidally in 2 

 valves or rarely indehisccnt or succulent. Seeds small, with a fleshy albu- 

 men. Embryo small, straight, with short cotyledons. — Herbs, very rarely in 

 species not Australian shrubs, usually glabrous and bitter. Leaves opposite 

 and entire in the principal tribe, alternate or clustered in the M eny antheis . 

 Stipules none. Flowers usually in cymes or corymbose panicles, rarely clus- 

 tered or solitary. 



The Order is chieHy abundant in the temperate or mountainous regions of the northern 

 liemisphere, with a few tropical or southern species. Of the seven Australian genera, four 

 have a wide range over the New and the Old World ; one extends from South Africa ou the 

 one side to New Zealand ou the other ; another belongs to the tropical Asiatic flora; ttit; 

 seventh is endemic but nionotypiCj and may not be definitively maintained. 



Tribe I. '^lx^ervt\^xi^^.— Terrestrial plants. Leaves opposite. CoroUa-Iohes con- 

 forted or otherwise imhricate in the hud. Testa of the seeds mmihranous. 

 Corolla-tube cylindrical or short; lobes spreading, contorted' in the 

 hull. Style deciduous. 

 Calyx divided nearly to the base. Anthers at length recurved at 



the tips. Ovary completely 2-ceIlcd , 1- Seb.?;a. 



Calyx shortly lobed. Anthers straight or at length twisted. 



Ovary 1-celled with parietal placentas 2. Erytuk-EA. 



Corolla-tube cvlindricai ; lobes apreaJiiig, imbricate in the bud. 



Calyx narrow tubular, shortly 4.toothe(] B. CasSCORA. 



Corolla campanulate or rotate. Style persistent 4. GentiaNa. 



Tribe ir. Menyantte^.— ^j?i^/^'c or marsh planis. Leaves radical or alt mati, 

 sometimes floating. Corolla-lobes with broad margins, indupUcate in the hud, I<^sta j 

 the seeds critstaceoas. 

 Capsule opening at the top in 4 valves. iMarsh plants. Flowers in 



loose cjmose panicles , . . • 5- Viliarsia. 



Capsule iiidchlsceut, usually ovoid. Plants usually aquatic. Leaves ' ■ ^ 



^ with a broad lamina. Pedicels clustered or rarely solitary . . 6. LiMNAKTHFMt . 

 Tnut globular, indehisccnt, pidpy. Creeping idant with linear tufted ^^^^^ 



leaves. Pedicefs axillary, solitary 7. 1^^^^^^^"^^^^ 



Tribe. I. EuGENTiANEiE.— TeiTcstri.il plants. Leaves opposite. ^ Co- 

 rolla-lobes contorted or otherwise imbricate in tlie bud (tlie margins inu - 

 plicate at the base iti some species not Australian), Testa of the see 

 membranous. 



SEB^A 



Calyx deeply 5- rarelv 4-cleft. Corolla-tube cylindrical ; lobes 5, lar 

 4, spreading, contorted in the bud. Stamens inserted in the throat ; antti 

 opening in longitudinal slits, at length recurved at the tips. Ov\ 



Ovarv coin- 

 * horlly 



pletely 2-celled ; style deciduous ; stigma clavate or capitate, often sho . 

 2-lobed. Capsule septicidally 2-valved, the margins introflexed, s^T^^J' ^, 

 Irom the central placenta, which remains entire or splits. Seeds smau a 

 numerous.— Annuals. Leaves opposite. Flowers yellow or white, lu 

 nanal dichotomous cymes. Bracts usually small. ^ ^^^5 



Thegeuu3, as now limited, extends over Southern Africa, and is also in New ^^^^""^^^ 

 onglit perhaps to include the South Americau Schnebter^a, Of the two A"^*^^ *'V'^^^^^ 

 one IS the same as the New Zealand one, the other appears to be endemic. }^'^\;\^i is 

 the genus belongs to the very few Gentianea^ with a completely 2-celled ovaij, 

 readily distuiguished frora Exacum by the anthers. 



