1917-18.] BOTANICAL SOCIETV OF EDINBURGH 255 



The dittei-entiation of closely allied species of Gentian 

 from dried specimens is a task of some difficulty, and 

 followino- the lead of Francliet,^ who had described two 

 Gentians collected by Soiilie at and about Tungnglo in 

 W. Szechwan as varieties of the Himalayan G. ornata, Wall, 

 under the names obtusifolia and acittifolia, Forrest's 

 dried earlier Yunnan specimens (under No. 408) of this 

 plant were referred to G. ornata. Cultivation of plants 

 (raised from seeds of later specimens under No. G728) 

 which flowered with Mr. Bulley at Ness and also at Edin- 

 burgh in 1912 showed that Forrest's plant Avas not the 

 true G. ornata, and we named our plant a Chinese form 

 of G. ornata. Under this designation Forrest's plant has 

 passed out of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, 

 dropping sometimes in its spread the qualification " Chinese 

 form," and appearing as G. ornata. Under the name 

 G. ornata it received an Award of Merit at the Royal 

 Horticultural Society when exhibited on October 12, 1915, 

 by Mr. Amos Perry, who had obtained the plant from Edin- 

 burgh. It is not the Wallichian species, which is not now 

 in cultivation, and perhaps never has been. I have not 

 the material by which to form an opinion upon whether 

 Forrest's plant is the same as Soulie's Szechwan plants. 



1 Franchet in Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr., xliii (1896), 493, where he says :— 



Gentiana ornata, Wall., Cat. 4.386 ; C. B. Clarke, in Hook., Fl. of Brit. 

 Ind., iv, 116 ; Bot. Mag., t. 6514 (forma micrantha). 



Species in Se tchuen occidentali variabilis. 



a Obtusifolia. — Folia inferiora et media oblonga, superiora lanceolato- 

 linearia, omnia obtusa ; tlores 4-5 cent, longi, caerulei cum vittis fuscis; 

 plicae ovatae, obtusae. 



Les prairies humides, les pelouses fraiches a Tongolo, Tizoii, etc. 

 (R. P. Soulie). En thibetain : Aou meto (fleur du frere aine). 



S Acutifolia. — Folia media et superiora linearia, acuta vel acuminata ; 

 flores 6-8 cent, longi, anguste tubulosi, lobis margine intense violaceo- 

 caeruleis, tubo cum vittis longitudinalibus atro-violacois. Flores 

 Gentianae striatae Maxim. 



Depuis Tongolo jusqu'au village de Te la to, dans les bois et les 

 lieux sees. 



Je n'ai pas vu de la Chine la vai'iete meiantha, Clarke, a petites tleurs 

 et a feuilles courtes, recurvees. 



Le vegetation du (i. ornata est la meme que celle du G. ternifolia, 

 Frauch. ; les stolons epiges ou hypoges s'enracinent a leur sommet d'oii 

 procede un bourgeon feuille qui continuera la plante. Autour de ce 

 bourgeon se developpent deux ou plusieurs rameaux ascendants portant 

 chacun une fleur. Dans toutes les formes de la plante la capsule est 

 toujours tres longuement stipitee, lanceolee, brievement attenuee en 

 style court. 



