THE COMMON BELL GENTIAN 51 



often called the Stemless Gentian {Gentiana acaulis, 

 Linn.) (Plate IX.), as a typical example. The plant is 

 quite unmistakable, and is especially frequent on 

 limestone soils. The stem is very short, though not 

 absent altogether, as the somewhat unfortunate 

 specific name implies. The leaves are arranged in a 

 beautiful little rosette on the stem, just above the 

 surface of the ground. From the rosette springs a 

 single flower, of large size, mounted on a stalk 

 which varies from 1 to 4 inches in length. The flower 

 is of a deep blue colour, and is shaped like a church- 

 bell, the mouth of the bell being tm-ned upwards, 

 facing the sky. 



There are no other Swiss Gentians at all similar 

 to the Common Bell Gentian, with the exception of 

 Gentiana excisa, Presl. { = G, latifolia, Gren. and 

 Godr.), and G. alpina, Vill, both of which are 

 probably only varieties of the same plant, though by 

 some they are regarded as distinct species. 



The large size of the flowers of the Common Bell 

 Gentian prompts us to peep within the bell, and to 

 study the form of the male and female organs, which 

 we shall find are full of interest. First of all, we 

 will slit open the corolla from base to sunmiit 

 with a needle, or a pin, in the manner shown in 

 Plate IX. The photograph also shows the rosette 

 of rather leathery leaves, and the flower- stalk with 

 its two pairs of smaller leaves. Outside the bell and 

 attached at its base, we find a tubular calyx composed 

 of five small, green leaves united together. The five 



