CLASS V. ORDER U.J GENTIANA. 339 



brauclied, many flowered ; calyx of five nearly equal linear lanceolate 

 teeth ; corolla five cleft, bearded. 



English Botany, t. 236. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 30. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 125. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 178. 



Root tapering, twisted and branched below, yellowish. Stem square, 

 erect, smooth, leafy, from four to twelve inches high, mostly purplish, 

 very much branched, with short many flowered branches, forming a 

 leafy panicle. Leaves lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, opposite, sessile 

 dark green, paler beneath, three ribbed, and often five, the lower leaves 

 frequently on short footstalks, broad at the base, the upper ones narrow, 

 lanceolate, with an acute point. Flotvcrs numerous, on short footstalks, 

 bearing one or two lanceolate bractea, frequently the whole plant from 

 the axis of the lower leaves upwards bears flowers. Calyx tubular, about 

 half as long as the tube of the corolla, pale green, of five angles and 

 ten ribs, the limb of five lanceolate nearly equal green segments, about 

 as long as the tube. Corolla salver-shaped, the tube pale, striated, the 

 limb pale dull purple, of five, sometimes four, or even three short 

 broadly lanceolate segments, expanding in the sun, the mouth of the 

 tube surrounded with waved hairs. Stamens inserted below the middle 

 of the tube. The Jilaments slender, awl shaped, longer than the tube 

 of the corolla. Anthers oblong, of two nearly separate cells, bursting 

 longtitudinally. Style very short. Stigmas oblong, flat, spreading. 

 Capsule long, cylindrical, pointed, opening at the apex, two valved, 

 many seeded. Seed roundish, flat, dark brown, minutely dotted. 



Habitat. — Pastures and meadows frequent, especially in a lime- 

 stone district in a subalpine country. 



Annual ; flowering from April to July. 



This and the following species are nearly allied to each other, but 

 are readily distinguished by the calyx, that of G. Amarella being 

 tubular, with a nearly regular limb of five narrow segments; while 

 that of G. campestris is four-cleft, the two outer segments very large, 

 enveloping the others. They are both possessed of the same bitter 

 tonic principle, and are used indiscriminately by the country people as 

 a stomachic, in combination with centaury, Erythrcea ceniaurium, 

 making a tea of them, and taking one or two wine glasses of it during 

 the day, and is often useful in debilitated state of the digestive organs. 



6. G. campes'tris, Linn. (Fig. 408) Field Gentian. Stem much 

 branched, many flowered ; calyx four-cleft ; the two outer segments 

 very large, ovate-lanceolate ; corolla four-cleft, bearded. 



English Botany, t. 237. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 31. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 125. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 178. 



Root tapering, twisted and branched below, yellowish. Stem square, 

 erect, smooth, leafy, from four to twelve inches high, much branched, 

 frequently from the base, somewhat corymbose above, green or pinkish. 

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