THE VERNAL GENTIAN 39 



at once in all frankness to accept it as it is — one 

 of the truest and loveliest marvels of the Alps, 



"... the fair earth's fond expression 

 Of tenderness for heaven above . . . " ! 



To each do we accord, as Mr. Augustine Birrell 

 vi^ould say, " a mass of greedy utterances " ; to each 

 do we lose our hearts ; but only to one do we lose 

 our heads. And that one is the Edelweiss : the 

 plant of leaves which ape a flower ; the plant whose 

 flower is as inconspicuous as that of our common 

 Sun Spurge ; the plant that would have us forget 

 its abundance on many a pasture, and think of 

 it only as clinging perilously to high-flung cliffs 

 where browse the chamois and where nest the 

 choughs. 



The Gentian Family as a whole is possessed of 

 very striking individuaUty, and for the most part 

 its members arrest more than usual attention. Its 

 name is said to be derived from Gentius, King of 

 Illyria, who is reputed to have first made known 

 its medicinial properties — tonic, emetic, and nar- 

 cotic. Although it ranges from Behring's Straits 

 to the Equator and on to the Antipodes, its resi- 

 dence is mainly northern. In New Zealand its 

 chief colour is red ; in Europe blue ; and of all 



