178 FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. [ Gentianee. 
and with simple or branched, erect or decumbent stems, with opposite, entire, exstipulate leaves and corymbose in- 
florescence. Calyx four- to five-lobed or -partite. Corolla funnel- or salver-shaped, with a spreading or erect four- 
to five-lobed limb. Stamens five, inserted on the corolla. Ovary one-celled, with marginal placentze and very 
numerous ovules. Stigma two-lobed. Capsule two-valved. Seeds not winged.—A large genus of very beautiful 
plants, which abound on tropical mountains, especially the Andes, and are very frequent in the north temperate 
latitudes, and comparatively scarce in the south, becoming more common towards the southern extreme of Australia, 
in Tasmania, and in the Middle Island of New Zealand, Lord Auckland’s Group, and Campbell’s Island. The 
species are very variable in stature and branching, and size and form of leaf and flower, the same species being low 
or tall, prostrate or erect, simple or branched, large- or small-flowered, also varying in the colour of the corolla and 
size and form of the calyx-lobes. I can offer no constant characters by which to separate many states of the follow- 
ing species. (Named in honour of Gentius, King of Illyria, who, according to Pliny, introduced the use of the 
root into medicine.) 
1. Gentiana montana, Forst.; annua, caule simplici erecto v. e basi ramosissimo, ramis gracilibus rarius 
e basi decumbentibus erectis 1-floris v. laxe corymbosis, foliis radicalibus obovato-spathulatis obtusis, 
caulinis omnibus v. supremis tantum ellipticis ovatisve, pedunculis gracilibus, lobis calycinis lineari-subu- 
latis linearibusve obtusis, corolla 5-fida campanulato-infundibuliformi lobis obovatis oblongis subacutis v. 
obtusis. Forst. Prodr. Br. Prodr. A. Cunn. Prodr. A. Rich. Flora. G. Grisebachii, Nobis in Hook. 
lc. Plant. t. 636. 
Has. Mountains of the Northern and Middle Islands. Common in Dusky Bay, Forster. Tongariro 
and Nelson, Bidwi77. Ruahine range, etc., Colenso. 
A remarkably beautiful plant, usually 6-8 inches high, but sometimes a foot and more, especially in Tasmania, 
where it is very abundant, and reaches 2 feet; it is also found in the Blue Mountains of Australia and as far south 
as Bass’s Straits. In Lord Auckland’s Group and Campbell’s Island it is generally dwarf, and very abundant, the 
G. concinna (Fl. Antarct. t. 36) being probably a state of it. Stems simple, erect, or very numerous and branch- 
ing from the very root, then decumbent and ascending, always slender in my New Zealand specimens. Radical 
leaves petiolate, linear-oblong or spathulate, cauline of the same form, or some or all ovate or elliptical, sessile. 
Flowers on long erect pedicels, whitish or pale yellow, streaked with red or blue. Calya teeth narrow, subulate, or 
linear and blunt. Corolla 1-2 inch long, deeply five-lobed ; lobes sharp or blunt. 
2. Gentiana saxosa, Forst. ; erecta v. decumbens, radice perenni uni-multicipite, caulibus simplicibus 
erectis elatis v. e radice perplurimis basi prostratis foliosis apicibus erectis uni-multifloris nunc umbellatim 
ramosis, foliis radicalibus plurimis obovato-spathulatis obtusis coriaceis caulinis consimilibus v. supremis 
ovatis sessilibus, floribus solitariis v. ad apices ramorum paucis, lobis calycinis lineari-oblongis obtusis sub- 
recurvis, corolle profunde 5-lobz lobis late obovatis apicibus rotundatis. Forst. Prodr. A. Cunn. Prodr. 
Grisebach in DC. Prodr. o. 9. p. 89. 
Var. a. robusta ; radice valida polycephala, ramis brevibus congestis, foliis brevibus perplurimis rosu- 
latis late obovato-spathulatis. 
Var. B. gracilior ; radice gracili ramos perplurimos graciles decumbentes emittente, pedunculis gracili- 
bus, calycis lobis angustioribus. Ad G. montanam accedit. 
Var. y. pleurogynoides ; caule simplici v. basi ramoso erecto robusto, foliis caulinis rosulatis, floribus 
umbellatis longe v. breve pedicellatis, foliis late ovatis sessilibus involucratis. G. pleurogynoides, Grisebach 
in DC. Prodr. v. 6. p. 99. 
Has. Mountains of the Northern Island, rare; more frequent in the Southern and Middle Islands, 
Forster, etc. 
