THE YELLOW GENTLVN 57 



sidering. The habit is quite dissimihxr. The plants 

 are all perennials, and very much larger. The long, 

 leafy stems are rarely less than a foot high, and often 

 reach several feet in length. The opposite pairs of 

 leaves are large, and the flowers are arranged in 

 whorls in the axils of the higher, alternating pairs of 

 leaves. These plants possess a stout root-stock below 

 ground. Two species have yellow, and two red, 

 flowers. They frequently form large colonies in the 

 stony pastures. 



The Yellow Gentian. 



The Yellow Gentian [Gentiana lutea, Linn.) is 

 quite dissimilar in several respects from all the other 

 Swiss Gentians. The yellow petals are almost 

 entirely free from one another, and not united into a 

 tube. The honey is secreted from an annular swelling 

 at the base of the ovary, above the points of attach- 

 ment of the stalks of the stamens. 



The Yellow Gentians are tall plants arising from 

 a stout root-stock below ground, which is often 2 to 

 3 feet in length, so that the total length of the plant 

 is sometimes nearly 6 feet. The upper portion of the 

 root-stock is the stem, which is covered w^ith numerous 

 ring-Hke scars, marking the points of attachment of 

 the leaves of former summers. These root-stocks 

 often attain to a considerable age, forty-three years 

 being recorded in one case. It is also stated that the 

 plant is several years old before it produces any 

 flowers. 



