588 



GENISTA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



GENTIANA. 



in height, and the crowded racemes of 

 yellow flowers are borne at the tips of the 

 spiny twigs from May onwards. 



G. pilosa is a dense, prostrate bush and 

 a delightful rock-garden plant. In Britain 

 it is rare and local, being confined to 

 gravelly heaths, in the south and south- 



Genista radiata. 



Genista pilosa. 



west of England. It grows freely and 

 flowers abundantly in May and June. 

 Like the rest of the British species of 

 the genus, it has bright yellow blossoms. 



G. radiata is a native of Central and 

 Southern Europe, 3 ft. or 4 ft. in height, ever- 

 green from the colour of 

 its much-branched spiny 

 twigs. The terminal 

 heads of bright yellow 

 flowers are throughout 

 the summer months. It 

 is hardy in the South of 

 England." 



G. ramosissima. A 

 native of Southern Spain, 

 and one of the best gar- 

 den plants in the genus, 

 growing about 3 ft. high, the slender twigs 

 laden in July with bright yellow flowers. 

 This also passes under the name of G. 

 cinerea. 



G. sagittalis is a frequent plant on the 

 alpine meadows of Europe. In habit it 

 differs widely from any of the other kinds, 

 the leaves being replaced by a winged 

 stem. It scarcely grows a foot high, and 

 forms a mass of branches bearing racemes 

 of yellow flowers in May and June. 



G. tinctoria (Dyer's Greenwecd}.Qc- 

 curring in a wild state in Britain, it 

 rarely exceeds 18 in. in height, and is 

 a spineless shrub bearing a profusion 

 of bright yellow flowers from July until 

 September. A double-flowered variety of 

 this makes a pretty rock-plant. 



G. tinctoria var. elatior is a tall-grow- 

 ing form from the Caucasus, which under 

 cultivation frequently grows from 4 ft. to 

 5 ft. high, and bears huge paniculate 

 inflorescences. 



G. virgata. A native of Madeira and 

 one of the most beautiful species of the 



genus. At Kew there are many old 

 plants from 6 ft. to 10 ft. high, and as much 

 through, which in July are one mass of 

 colour, every one of the slender branch- 

 lets terminating in a raceme of yellow 

 blossoms. 



GENTIANA (Gentian). Dwarf 

 evergreen alpine plants, some of them 

 difficult to cultivate, but others easily 

 grown (on the rock-garden and in 

 borders). The most precious are the 

 perennial alpine kinds, which are such 

 a beautiful feature on the mountains of 

 Europe, and with care in our gardens 

 spread into healthy tufts and flower as 

 well as on the mountains. Of these 

 plants there are two sections the first, 

 strong easily-grown kinds, suitable for 

 borders ; and the second, dwarfer kinds, 

 which should be grown in the rock-garden, 

 or in borders or beds of choice dwarf 

 plants. The Willow Gentian, some of the 

 American perennials, and those with 

 herbaceous shoots generally grow freely 

 in borders, in good moist soil. So does 

 the Gentianella (G acaulis). The dwarfer 



Gentians are represented most familiarly 

 by the Vernal Gentian (G. verna). 



G. acaulis (Gentianella}. An old in- 

 habitant of English gardens, among the 

 most beautiful of the Gentians, and easily 

 cultivated, except on very dry soils. In 

 some places edgings are made of it, and 

 where it does well it should be used in every 

 garden, as, when in flower, edgings of it are 

 of great beauty, and, when not in flower, the 

 masses of little leaves gathered into com- 

 pact rosettes, form a good edging. It is 

 at home on the rock-garden, where there 



