276 Blue to Purple Flowers 



pick one of these Gentians, you will find that the whole 

 plant comes up out of the ground at the slightest pull. They 

 are extremely elusive flowers, seldom reappearing in the 

 same place for two consecutive years, since, being annuals, 

 and therefore perpetuated by seed alone, their reappearance 

 the following season depends altogether upon the direction 

 of the wind which blows the little hairy scales hither and 

 thither, and by good fortune deposits a few where the moist 

 earth enables them to germinate. 



Gentiana Amarella var. acuta, or Northern Gentian, may 

 readily be distinguished by the fringed crown set within 

 the throat of the corolla-tube. The flowers are quite numer- 

 ous, growing in clusters on short stiff stalks that spring out 

 of the main stem; they are usually pinkish-purple, but some- 

 times white. The traveller should specially note that the 

 corolla is divided into five lobes at the top, and that the 

 tiny roots grow close to the surface of the soil and are very 

 easily pulled up. 



Gentiana propinqua, or Four-parted Gentian, is some- 

 what like the preceding species, but has larger, brighter blue 

 flowers, which are not nearly so closely clustered together; 

 and it is a much more graceful plant. The corolla is four- 

 parted, or cut into four lobes, as the name implies, and the 

 calyx is also four-cleft. These Gentians are occasionally 

 white. 



Gentiana arctophila, or Alpine Gentian, is a tiny dwarf 

 species resembling G. propinqua. It is found at immense 

 altitudes. 



Gentiana prostrata, or Dwarf Gentian, has very weak and 

 often procumbent stems. The leaves are covered with a 

 soft white bloom and have white hairy margins, while the 

 flowers are solitary and of a lovely azure-blue colour, also 



