GENTIANA 



GENTIAN OBDEB 



GENTIANA 653' 



spring, jvist as growth is about to com- 

 mence, is the best time for disturbing the 

 plants. They make excellent edgings in 

 somewhsit shaded but open situacions and 

 are beautiful in nooks of the rock garden. 



G. adscendens. — A Siberian species 

 about 9 in. high, with lance-shaped leaves. 

 Flowers in June and July, blue, bell- 

 shaped, 5-lobed, with teeth between the 

 segments produced in clusters in the axils 

 of the upper leaves and at the ends of the 

 shoots. There is a variety with smaller 

 flowers and leaves named minor. 



Culture So. as above. This species 

 has rather long fleshy roots, and should be 

 grown in deep rich sandy loam, with a 

 little peat or leaf mould. It requires a 

 partially shaded position, and the flowers 

 often appear up to September. 



G. affinis. — A N. American species 4- 

 12 in. high, with oblong, lance-shaped or 

 linear leaves. Flowers in summer, blue, 

 narrowly funnel-shaped, about 1 in. long, 

 having short scale-like teeth between the 

 lobes, and unequal linear or awl-shaped 

 calyx-lobes. 



Culture dc. as above. This species is 

 often more or less trailing in habit, and 

 looks well in the rockery facing north or 

 east. 



G. algida. — A native of Siberia, 3-6 in. 

 high, with somewhat 4-angled or roundish 

 stems and linear lance-shaped leaves. 

 Flowers in June and July, milky -white, 

 dotted and striped with blue ; lobes of 

 the large, bell-shaped, 10-cleffc corolla 

 purple-blue. 



Culture dc. as above. 



G. Andrevirsi. — A native of N. America 

 1-2 ft. high, with rounded stems and 

 oblong lance-shaped leaves. Flowers in 

 August, blue, swollen bell-shaped, about 

 1 in. deep, with 5 obtuse, entire segments 

 and 5 smaller accessory fringed ones, 

 borne in axillary and terminal clusters. 



Culture £c. as above. This species 

 when well established always flowers freely. 

 It may be grown in boggy parts of the 

 garden, or in borders or rockery in moist 

 sandy soil. May be increased by division 

 in spring. 



G. asclepiadea (Swalloiv Wort). — A 

 handsome species 6-18 in. high, native of 

 Southern Europe, with erect, slightly 4- 

 angled stems swollen at the joints. Leaves 

 ovate lance-shaped, 5-nerved, about 2 in. 

 long, broad and clasping at the base. 



Flowers in July, rather large, bell-shaped, 

 purple-blue with dark dots inside, solitary 

 in the leaf axUs, and crowded at the tips; 

 coroUa 5- cleft, with ovate acute lobes. 

 There is a scarce white-flowered variety 

 called alhOf. 



Culture dc. as above. This species 

 flourishes in partially shaded spots and 

 may be naturalised in moist places in 

 woods, and is also useful for the border, 

 edges of shrubberies, and parts of the 

 rockery facing north. It dies down in 

 winter but the stems shoot up again in 

 spring, before which it may be divided if 

 necessary. Seeds are freely produced and 

 may be sown when ripe as above recom- 

 mended. 



G. bavarica. — A beautiful alpine spe- 

 cies about 3 in. high, with small, very 

 blunt obovate Box-like leaves crowded at 

 the base. Flowers in July, large, beauti- 

 ful blue, freely produced on 1 -flowered 

 stems ; corolla 5-lobed, with a long cylin- 

 drical tube and 5 horn-like scales between 

 the lobes. 



Culture So. as above. This species 

 must be grown in wet, boggy soil in the 

 rockery or near the edges of water, in 

 such positions, however, that the water 

 will not become stagnant. (?. hrachy- 

 phylla is a close low-growing plant near 

 G. havarica, and requires similar treat- 

 ment. 



G. Big-elovi. — A native of New Mexico, 

 1-1^ ft. high, with linear or linear-oblong 

 leaves about 2 in. long. Flowers in August, 

 violet, about 1 in. deep, arranged in a 

 leafy spike in the axils of the leaves. 



Culture do. as above. 



G. Burseri. — A Pyrenean species about 

 2 ft. high, with opposite, ovate, apiculate 

 leaves sheathing at the base. Flowers in 

 July, yellow, in whorls or clusters at the 

 ends of the shoots. Corolla beU-shaped, 

 5-cleft, dotted with purple inside, and 

 having a sraall tooth between each lance- 

 shaped segment. It is supposed to be a 

 hybrid between G. lutea and G. punctata. 



Culture do. as above. This plant 

 flourishes in peat and loam, and owing to 

 its vigorous growth, and the peculiarity of 

 sending up shoots from the base, it should 

 be given plenty of space to develop. 



G. calycosa. — A Californian Gentian 

 4-6 in. high, with somewhat connate ovate 

 leaves about an inch long. Flowers deep 

 blue, dotted with white at the base of the 



