﻿JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



BEITISH AND FOREIGN. 



SVANTE MURBECK ON GENTIANS. 

 By William H. Beeby. 

 In the Acta Horti Bergiani (Band 2, No. 3)* are published the 

 results of Herr Svante Murbeck's Studien iiber Gentlemen aits der 

 Qruppe Endotrieha Froel., for a copy of which I am indebted to 

 ir. The plants treated of include Gentiana campestris and 

 G. Amarella, each of which is divided into two subspecies ; also G. 

 haltica- and G. uliginosa, species allied respectively to the two above 

 mentioned. Since four, or perhaps five, of these six forms are 

 found in Britain, some account of them may be of interest to those 

 who study our native plants. 



The table below, adapted from the one given by Herr Murbeck, 

 shows the relationship of the several plants. It should of course 

 be borne in mind that in Scandinavia generally, and in this paper, 

 the asterisk is used to indicate a subspecies. 



Annual. Basal leaves ovate-lanceolate. 

 Hab. Lowlands of the N. Sea and Baltic region. 

 G. haltica Murb. | G. uliginosa Willd. 



Biennial. Basal leaves spathulate. 

 Pretty widely distributed. Widely distributed. 



G. campestris L. G. Amarella L. 



*suecica Murb. [Willd.). Hingulata Ag. 



*germanica Murb. (non ^axillaris Murb. 



The British specimens seen by Herr Murbeck are in the col- 

 lections of Mr. A. Bennett, Rev. E. S. Marshall, and myself. In 

 the following notes characters (extracted chiefly from Murbeck's 

 treatise) sufficient for identification are given ; for fuller details the 

 author's interesting work should be consulted. 

 A. Calyx 4 -partite, the two broadly ovate segments much larger 

 than, and enclosing, the two smaller segments. 

 Gentiana baltica Murb. — Annual. Basal leaves few, ovate or 

 lanceolate, broadest below or at the middle. Corolla-tube for the 

 most part shorter than the calyx, rarely longer. Fl. mid August to 

 October. — W. Cornwall, Lizard Downs. S. Devon, Roborough 



Botany.— Vol. 32. 



