802 THE GENTIAN FAMILY. {Gcntiana. 



The Oentiandla of our gardens is the Gentiana acaulis, a mountain 

 species, very common in central Europe, but not a native of Britain. 



1. Q. Pneumonanthe, Linn. (fig. 677). Marsh (?. Rootstock 

 perennial Stems simple, erect, 6 inches to a foot or more high. 

 Lower leaves oblong-lanceolate, the upper ones nearly linear, all obtuse 

 and rather thick. Flowers nearly sessile, in opposite pairs in the axils 

 of the upper leaves, with a terminal one close between the last pair. 

 Lobes of the calyx narrow. Corolla an inch and a half or more long, 

 of a deep blue within, with 5 greenish, broad lines outside ; the tube with- 

 out hairs at the throat ; the lobes rather short, broad and spreading. 



In moist heaths and pastures, chiefly in hilly districts, throughout 

 Europe and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Local in Britain, 

 more frequent in northern than in central or southern England, but not 

 a native of Scotland or Ireland. Fl. summer. 



2. G. verna, Linn. (fig. 678). Spring O. Stock perennial and leafy, 

 densely tufted, often spreading to 4 or 5 inches in diameter, with 

 ovate or oblong leaves. Flower-stems simple and numerous, sometimes 

 so short that the flowers appear sessile on the tufts of leaves, sometimes 

 1 or 2 inches long, bearing 1 or 2 pairs of small leaves, and a beautiful 

 bright -blue terminal flower. Calyx very angular, with lanceolate teeth 

 or lobes. Corolla-tube cylindrical, nearly an inch long ; the limb broad 

 and spreading, with 5 ovate lobes, and smaller 2-cleft ones between 

 them. 



One of the most common species, in mountain pastures, in central 

 and southern Europe to the Caucasus and the Altai, but scarcely 

 extending into northern Germany. Rare in Britain, apparently con- 

 fined to a few localities in northern England and western Ireland. 

 Fl. spring or early summer. 



3. G. nivalis, Linn. (fig. 679). Small G. A slender, erect, leafy 

 annual, sometimes single-flowered and only an inch high, but more 

 frequently 2 to 4 inches high and more or less branched ; each branch 

 bearing a single blue flower, much like that of G. verna, but considerably 

 smaller. The tube of the corolla is but little more than 6 lines long, 

 and the lobes of the limb not 2 lines, broadly ovate and pointed, with 

 very small 2-cleft ones between them. 



A high alpine plant, not uncommon in the higher mountain-ranges of 

 central Europe as well as in the extreme north, but not recorded with 

 any certainty as extending into central Asia. Very rare in Britain, and 

 only on a few of the higher Scotch mountains. Fl. summer. 



4. G. Amarella, Linn. (fig. 680). Autumn G. An erect, much- 

 branched annual, 3 or 4 inches to near a foot high, often assuming 

 a livid-green or purplish tinge. Leaves ovate or lanceolate ; the flowers 

 numerous, sometimes much crowded, sometimes forming a loose, oblong, 

 leafy panicle of a pale purplish-blue, and varying much in size. Calyx 

 divided to the middle into 5 narrow-lanceolate, equal or slightly unequal 

 lobes. Corolla-tube broad, the limb spreading, divided into 5, rarely 

 4, ovate or oblong lobes, without any smaller ones between them, but 

 furnished within, at the mouth of the tube, with a fringe of hairs half 

 a& long as the lobes. 



In rather dry hilly pastures, in Europe and Russian Asia, extending 

 to the Arctic Circle, but becoming rather a mountain plant in southern 

 Europe. Diffused over the greater part of Britain. Fl. end of summer 



