386 



Hooker, however, did not consider tlie two plants to be distinct spe- 

 cies ; and has consequently again figured G. germanica under the 

 name of G. Amarella ; and in thus combining them other botanists 

 agree, but I do not, since I have never seen intermediate forms, nor 

 do I think that the arguments to be drawn from the different geogra- 

 phical stations of the two species, ought to be neglected. 



Country. — Damp pastures in the plains of north-western Europe, 

 (50° — 69°), of eastern Europe (even to the Caucasus) and Siberia. 

 Hab. a. and /3. in Scotland ; y. in England ; ^. in the Highlands of 

 Scotland ; all on the authority of Hooker ! Many foreign localities 

 are given. Flowering in August and September. 



Thus far Grisebach upon the distinctive characters of Gentiana 

 Amarella. I cannot help suspecting that two at least of the five spe- 

 cies which succeed it should be included among the varieties. 



49. Gentiana germanica, W! Stem straight, robust: lower leaves spathulate, upper 

 ones ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, sessile: lobes of the calyx subequal, ovate-lanceolate, 

 shorter than the tube of the corolla: crowned corolla 5-cleft, tube gradually widening: 

 linear-oblong ovary and capsule stalked. — From a living plant. 



G. germanica, Willd. ! Sp. PL i. 1346. Figure ; Hook. Fl. Loud. 33. 



j3. minor, G. W. F. Meyer, (Chi. Hanov. p. 278). Stem short, subsimple : leaves 

 subequal: corolla very large. — From a living plant. Figure; Eng. Bol. 236. 



y. prcecox. Middle stem-leaves oval, lower ones obtuso-spathulate : calyx as long 

 as the tube of the corolla. — From a living plant. A form which, according to 

 specimens collected in the Alps, near Heiligenblut, flowers in August, has the 

 leaves acuminate, as in a., but the calyx is like that of the present variety ; it is 

 in this respect, as well as the time of flowering, a transition to the common form. 



8. caucasica. Stem branched : all the leaves obtuse : lobes of the calyx subulate, 

 distant, twice the length of the tube, and as long as the tube of the corolla. — 

 From a dried specimen. In the Carpathians it passes to a. Figure ; Sims, Bat. 

 Mag. 1038. 



Description. — «. Stem generally a foot high, variable in ramifica- 

 tion. Leaves two inches long, equalling the internodes, their margin 

 appearing serrulated under a lens, point rather obtuse. Cyme truly 

 compound, forming a panicle nearly a foot long ; erect indeed, but 

 more spreading than in G. Amarella. Lobes of the calyx acuminate, 

 equal, as long as its tube, half the length of the tube of the corolla. — 

 Corolla blackish-blue, varying to violet; tube obconical ! lobes ovate, 

 acute, mucronate. 



Varieties. — A very variable species. Besides the forms given in 

 the synonymes, the following are worthy of being mentioned. Under 

 a. Lobes of the calyx abbreviated, rather unequal. Corolla 2 inches 



