128 PLANTS GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 



FRINGED GENTIAN. (Plate LXIV.) 

 GefituDia crinita. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Gentian Briiiia?it bhie, or Scentless. Mostly north and September, October, 



■white. -^e^i- 



Flowers : terminal ; solitary. Calj^x : of four unequal, pointed sepals. Co- 

 rolla : funnel-form ; two inches broad ; with four rounded lobes exquisitely 

 fringed at the edges. Stamens : four ; with glands at the bases of the filaments. 

 Piili/ : one, with two stigmas. Leaz'es : opposite ; lanceolate ; clasping ; sharply 

 pointed. Slem ; one to two feet high. 



Something preliminary is almost necessary before venturing 

 to speak of the fringed gentian ; and even then it should be 

 done with bated breath, for is it not the flower that has inspired 

 poets and statesmen to such an extent that they have barely 

 been able to write soberly about it ? And truly it is a heavenly 

 flower. But to those that are a bit worldly and have not the 

 poetical soul it must always suggest that it has been gowned 

 by nature's Worth ; it is so chaussee a ravii-. The beautiful 

 frmge is but the latest conceit of fashion ; and the soft green of 

 its calyx, blending with its incomparable blue, is an example of 

 the most ravishing taste. It is the flower alone, however, that 

 is so pleasing : the leaves and the plant's manner of growth 

 are quite stiff and ungainly. 



The plant is an annual — that is, it blooms in the first year of 

 its growth, ripens its seeds and then completely dies. Al- 

 though, therefore, we have marked well the spot where it grew 

 one season, we may only hope the next year to use it as a guide 

 by which to trace the path to where its seeds have fallen. At 

 night the fair flower closes. 



CLOSED GENTIAN. {Plate LXV) 



Gent I ana Andreivsii. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Gentian. Deep blue. Scentless. Mostly north. Autumn. 



Flowers : terminal and clustered in the axils of the leaves. Calyx : of four or 

 five-cleft sepals. Corolla : about an inch in length ; closed at the top. Stamens : 

 four or five. Pistil : one, with two stigmas. Leaves : opposite ; lanceolate and 

 enveloping the terminal flowers. Stem : one to two feet high ; smooth ; erect. 



The closed gentian always appears as though it had the sulks. 



