Bcinflins ifortb Jfrult 181 



top, each branch bearing a funnel-formed corolla of 

 four fringed lobes. The calyx is also four cleft, and 

 there are four stamens ; the pistil has two stigmas 

 and one style, which is therefore a single style 

 formed by the growing together of two, the 

 stigmas not uniting. Now as the gentian blooms so 

 late its seeds are very late ripening, and, falling into 

 the ground, do not assent to a sleep so short as that 

 they must waken early the next spring. On the 

 contrary, as is the case with hollyhocks and some 

 other plants, the seeds will not produce blossoms 

 until the second 3'ear, and the plant is biennial. 

 One peculiarity about the gentian is that it changes 

 its haunts, seldom growing two or three generations 

 of plants in the same locality. The hard, round 

 seeds are Avanderers ; they are easily washed away, 

 and especially if they have ripened on a hillside, 

 are likely to find their lodgment in a valley or 

 meadow. 



All the gentians bloom late. The closed gentian is 

 another blue flower which unfolds in September 

 and lingers to grace October; it receives its name, 

 " closed gentian," from the shape of the corolla, which 

 looks as if always in bud ; it is a large oblong corolla 

 of a deep rich blue, the mouth firmly shut, seeming 

 to guard the inclosed stamens and pistil from the 

 dampness and the chilly air of autumn nights. The 



