48 TYPICAL FLOWERS OF ALPINE PASTURES 



flower is open. The Common Bell Gentian and the 

 Broad-leaved Gentian belong here. The former is 

 often called the Stemless Gentian. 



The third group, the Fringed Gentians, or Gentian- 

 ellas, are usually much-branched plants with corollas 

 shaped like those of the first group. But the 

 entrance to the corolla tube, or the throat of the 

 corolla, as it is termed, is closed by a fringe of scales, 

 which are outgrowths from the inner surface of the 

 petals. 



The Spring and Bavarian Gentians. 

 The Spring Gentian {Gentiana verna, Linn.) (Plate 

 X., Fig. 1), is, as we have seen, one of the earliest 

 flowers to deck the Alpine pastures on the retreat of 

 the winter's snow. The Bavarian Gentian {Gentiana 

 havarica, Linn.) does not flower until later, usually in 

 July, and is perhaps often more in evidence in the 

 High Alpine region than in the Alpine zone. The 

 two plants are both perennials, very similar in appear- 

 ance and liable to be mistaken for one another. 

 The underground stems produce numerous, very leafy 

 shoots, and flowering shoots ending in a single flower 

 of an intense azure-blue, especially in the case of the 

 Bavarian Gentian. In the Spring Gentian, the leaves 

 are more or less elliptical in shape and pointed. The 

 leaves on the flowering shoot are arranged in one or 

 two pairs, which are smaller than those forming the 

 rosettes close to the ground. The Bavarian Gentian 

 has blunt, spoon-shaped or egg-shaped leaves, and 



