PLATE XXVI. 



1. GENTIANA ACAULIS. 



LARGE-FLOWERED GENTIAN. 



THIS genus of plants is of the hardy heibaceous perennial 

 flowery kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandria Digynia, and ranks in 

 the natural order of Rotacea. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a five-parted perianthium, 

 sharp: divisions oblong, permanent: the corolla has one petal, tubu- 

 lar at bottom, imperforate, at top five-cleft, flat, withering, various in 

 form: the stamina have five filaments, subulate, shorter than the co- 

 rolla: anther simple: the pistillum is an oblong germ, cylindric, 

 length of the stamens: styles none: stigmas two, ovate: (germ supe- 

 rior; style simple, or two sessile stigmas:) the pericarpium is an 

 oblong capsule, columnar, acuminate, slightly bifid at the tip, one- 

 celled; two-valved: the seeds numerous, small, fixed all round to the 

 walls of the capsule: receptacles two, each fastened longitudinally to 

 a valve. 



The species cultivated are: 1. G. lutea, Yellow Gentian; 2. G. 

 punctata, Spotted-flowered Gentian ; 3. G. asclepiadea, Swallow- 

 wort-leaved Gentian; 4. G. acaulis, Dwarf Gentian, or Gentianella. 



The first has a thick root, of a yellowish brown colour, and very 

 bitter taste: the lower leaves are petioled, oblong-ovate, a little 

 pointed, stiff, yellowish green, having five large veins on the back, 

 and plaited : the stem three or four feet high or more, with a pair 

 of leaves at each joint, sessile or almost embracing, of the same form 

 with the lower ones, but diminishing gradually to the top: the 

 flowers are in whorls at the upper joints. It is a native of Switzerland, 

 flowering in June and July. 



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