GEN 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



GEN 



603 



all respects than the German. They flower early in the 

 spring. The latter is found near the lake Baikal, and the 

 Carpathian mountains, in the Russian empire ; and the 

 former, in Switzerland and Germany. 



27. Gentiana Aurea; Golden Gentian. Corollas five-cleft, 

 extremely acuminate; throat beardless and awnless; branches 

 opposite; root annual. Stem erect, a span high; branches at 

 the root several, small, very upright ; root-leaves ovate, 

 smooth, small; stem-leaves similar, larger, sessile, bluntish; 

 flowers terminating, few in a head ; calices narrow, subpe- 

 duncled, divided into five awl-shaped segments; tube of the 

 corolla the length of the calix; border yellow; the segments 

 quite entire, without any teeth interposed. Native of the 

 mountains about Bourdeaux, and of Norwegian Lapland. 



28. Gentiana Nivalis; Winter Gentian. Corollas five-cleft; 

 branches one-flowered, alternate ; root annual, small ; stem 

 one-flowered, but frequently branched, having one flower 

 coming out from each axil, regularly one above another, 

 often alternately, but sometimes in pairs ; root-leaves ovate, 

 bluntly lanceolate, few; stem-leaves a little longer, ovate- 

 acuminate, as far as eight pairs: calix five-cornered, half the 

 length of the corolla, cut one-third of the way ; segments 

 ending in a long and very sharp point, they are lanceolate, 

 greenish on the outside, deep blue within, having a tinge of 

 green". It varies, like most of the others, with a white corolla : 

 the fading from blue to white is indeed very common in 

 flowers. Haller observes, that it is a genuine alpine plant, 

 common in the mountains of Lapland, between Savoy and 

 Piedmont, on mount Cenis. Linneus also remarked it upon 

 the Pyrenees, adorning them, as he expresses it, with the 

 splendour of its deep vivid blue flowers; and Mr. Dickson 

 saw it on Ben Lawers in Scotland. This, with the two fol- 

 lowing species, being partial to spongy ground, cannot easily 

 be cultivated in gardens. The seeds must be sown in pots, 

 or in a shady situation, upon a moist boggy ground, in the 

 autumn. When the plants come up, the surface of the 

 ground should be covered with moss, which should be kept 

 continually moist. 



29. Gentiana Aquatica ; Water Gentian. Corollas five- 

 cleft, terminating, sessile; leaves membranaceous at the edge; 

 root annual, filiform, somewhat branched, white; root-leaves 

 spreading in a ring, very much crowded together, ovate- 

 rounded ; stem- leaves imbricate, ovate-sharpish, decussated. 

 Stems from two to twenty, usually simple, but sometimes 

 branched, dichotomous, in the flowering plant very short, 

 but in the fruiting plant lengthened out, the leaves becoming 

 more remote, and produced into an oblong form ; flowers 

 small, blue, varying to green and white; calix largish, five- 

 cornered ; the segments awl-shaped, sharp, equal. It ap- 

 proaches very nearly to the preceding species, and grows to 

 a larger size in northern than in southern countries. Being 

 very bitter, the Daurians use it as a medicine. It flowers in 

 the middle of May, and is found from the river Jenisca to 

 the eastern ocean, in sandy wet meadows, and especially by 

 lakes and rivers : it is also found in China and Japan. See 

 the preceding species. 



30. Gentiana Utriculosa; Bottle Gentian. Corollas five- 

 cleft, salver-shaped ; calices plaited and keeled; root slender, 

 fusiform, fibrous, yellow, annual, but, according to Allioni, 

 perennial ; root-leaves spreading on the grouud in a four- 

 cornered tuft, but soon decaying; stem upright, a finger's 

 length or a hand in height, sometimes higher, slightly angular, 

 smooth ; branches opposite, each with the stem terminated 

 by one flower; leaves seven pairs or more, ovate, blunt, quite 

 entire, connate, sessile, upright, bright green, smooth; calix 

 five-cornered ; the corolla is sometimes six-cleft. Kay re- 



marks that this species differs from all the Gentianellas which 

 he had observed, in having the tube of the corolla no longer 

 than the culix, but the segments of the former spreading imme- 

 diately over the top of the latter, as in the Piuk. Mr. Miller 

 observes, that after the top flower decays, there are frequently 

 two smaller flowers come out from the side of the stalk, at 

 the two upper joints ; as these flower after each other, there 

 is a succession of flowers till autumn : it varies with white 

 flowers. Native of the mountains of Switzerland, Germany, 

 Austria, Idria, and Italy, flowering in June. Ray says, he 

 found it in abundance, passing from Munich to Augsburg. 



31. Gentiana Exacoides; Healing Gentian. Corollas five- 

 cleft, salver-shaped ; calices membranaceous and keeled ; stalk 

 dichotomous ; leaves cordate. The whole of this plant is only 

 about a finger's length ; stem simple, slender, upright, angular; 

 leaves small, roundish, broad-veined, connate, two or three 

 pairs; flowers terminating in a loose, broad, ventricose, 

 membranaceous, striated calix ; segments of the corolla ob- 

 long, narrow, equal, yellow. Native of the Cape. 



32. Gentiana Centaurium ; Centaury Gentian, or Lesser 

 Ccntaury. Corolla five-cleft; stem dichotomous; pistil sim- 

 ple. The whole of this plant is smooth and glaucous ; root 

 fibrous, annual, woody, yellowish ; stalk from four inches 

 to a foot in. height, upright, hexangular or quadrangular, 

 generally simple, but frequently putting out upright simple 

 branches, some way above the root, and sometimes branch- 

 ing all the way to the top; leaves next the root oblong, or 

 wedge-shaped, narrowed at the base, blunt at the end; stem- 

 leaves lanceolate, pointed, upright, the uppermost often bent 

 inward ; floral-leaves linear, all sessile, three-nerved, quite 

 entire; flowers in a corymb, upright, and subsessile; calix up- 

 right, slightly adhering to the tube of the corolla, permanent ; 

 segments awl-shaped, connected by a membrane, at the base 

 two very short awl-shaped bractes ; corolla tube one-third 

 longer than the calix, slightly coloured, streaked ; border 

 generally rose-coloured or pink, plaited at the base, the fis- 

 sures keeled on the outside, and the segments on the inside; 

 there are no ears or processes between the segments. Gerarde 

 remarks, that the flowers, which he describes as growing 

 at the top of the stalk, in a " spokie bush or rundell, of a 

 red colour tending to purple, in the day-time, and after the 

 sun is up, do open themselves, and towards evening do shut 

 up again." This plant is not uncommon with a white corolla. 

 It is often found in boggy places, with a very short stem, and 

 remarkably branched, this plant is extremely bitter, with 

 a disagreeable flavour; so that, as Haller observes, it was 

 called fel feme, or gall of the earth, by the ancients: he 

 also determines it to be the graveolentia centaurea of Virgil, 

 to which Lucretius gives the more significant epithet of tris- 

 fia, expressive of its extreme bitterness. This herb forms 

 the basis of the famous Portland powder, which prevents fits 

 of the gout when taken in a large quantity, and a long time 

 together; but is said at the same time to bring on hardness 

 of the liver, palsy, and apoplexy. An infusion of the whole 

 plant is, however, an excellent stomachic medicine, as it 

 strengthens the digestive faculties, excites an appetite, opens 

 obstructions of the viscera, removes the jaundice, kills worms, 

 and cures the ague. A decoction of the whole plant destroys 

 lice, and cures the itch. For its propagation and culture, 

 see the second species. 



33. Gentiana Pulchella ; Neat Gentian. Corolla five-cleft ; 

 tube elongated ; style simple ; stalk quite so ; stem scarcely 

 an inch high; root-leaves commonly in fours, ovate; stem- 

 leaves opposite, obovate, all naked, quite entire; flower 

 terminating, solitary ; calix five-cornered ; segments acute, 

 membranaceous. Native of Sweden. 



