GENTIANA BAVARICA. 39 



drip of trees. During long continued rains in autumn and winter, it will be a good 

 plan to cover the clumps with a large pot, as they are more impatient of wet than 

 cold ; but they should not be kept covered longer than is necessary. 



With these trifling precautions all the species may be grown to perfection, and 

 the beauty of their flowers will well repay a little care in the selection of soil 

 and site. 



The genus is chiefly represented in our gardens by the dwarf Gentian, G. acaulis; 

 but the species are so numerous, that Dr. Griesbach, who has written a monograph 

 of the Order, enumerates no fewer than 154 as known to Botanists. Of these, 

 however, not more than fifteen or twenty species are kept by English Florists, and 

 even that number could hardly be obtained without some trouble. 



They occur in nearly every part of the world, Africa and New Holland excepted, 

 chiefly in the temperate regions, and at some elevation, often near the limits of 

 perpetual snow. The few species in cultivation in this country are nearly all 

 natives of Europe or North America. 



Those indigenous to great Britain form a group by no means the least interesting 

 of the genus. The G. Pneumonanthe is one of the most charming plants of our 

 English Flora, and well deserves to be transferred to the borders by those who are 

 fortunate enough to discover it in their botanical rambles. 



Another little gem is the rare G. nivalis, found only in Scotland, in a few 

 localities. This species, and the G. Amarella, G. Germanica, and G. campestris, are 

 but of annual duration; the three last are far more generally distributed than 

 nivalis, being found in most of the English counties. 



The G. verna, also indigenous, but rare, is a beautiful species, not unfrequently 

 met with in cultivation, and is sometimes kept by the Florist. It is quite dwarf in 

 its habit, and resembles in this respect, as well as in the colour and form of its 

 flowers, the G. Bavarica figured in our plate. 



"We have chosen this species as an example of the genus, not only for its intrinsic 

 beauty, but also from its being one of those least known. It is not, as its name 

 would apparently imply, confined to Bavaria, for it is found in most of the alpine 

 regions of the South and Centre of Europe. 



Our readers will observe that the form of the corolla differs considerably from 

 that of the better known G. acaulis, that of the latter being bell-shaped or 

 campanulate, whilst the former is salver-shaped or rotate ; the foliage is also very 

 much smaller, and it belongs, in fact, to a different section of the genus. The 

 flowers are produced singly at the extremity of the shoots, and are of the most 

 intense blue, with a well-defined whitish spot at the top of the tube, where the 

 divisions of the limb unite. The small thyme-like leaves are of a bright glossy 

 green, those at the lower part of the stem being very closely placed. In the 

 G. verna, to which we have already observed, the plant is related, the inferior 



