CHAPTER XXIII 

 Gentiana (Gentian) 



MANY of the members of this family (natural order 

 Gentianeae) are remarkable for their brilliant blue 

 flowers. The term Gentian blue is a well-known one, and 

 often used in describing the colour of other flowers of similar 

 shade. There are about fifty kinds of Gentian in culti- 

 vation, including some that have been recently introduced 

 from China. They vary a good deal, from the tall-growing 

 G. lutea, often over three feet high, to such a dwarf 

 plant as G. verna, only an inch or so high. While several, 

 like the Willow-leaved Gentian (G. asclepiadea), and G. 

 septemfida, are perennials, and easy to manage in partly 

 shady places with deep rich soil, others, like the vernal 

 Gentian (G. verna), are more difficult, and require careful 

 planting. Even under the best of conditions they are 

 often short-lived, and require to be raised fresh from 

 seeds every year or two. The Gentians cannot be dealt 

 with culturally as a whole ; directions for growing each 

 kind are therefore given. 



G. acaulis (Gentianella) . This is one of the best known, 

 and an old inhabitant of our gardens. It is native of 

 the Swiss Alps and the Pyrenees. It does not flower 



well in all places, but where it is successfully grown it 



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