GENl] 



W$z &rea£ttrg oi Statanj). 



526 



weed. G. tinctoria, a native of Central and 

 Southern Europe, common in England, is 

 a low bushy tufted shrub, producing nu- 

 merous woody unarmed stems, which send 

 forth stiff erect angular green branches, 

 clothed with leaves varying from narrow 

 lance-shaped to broadly-elliptical, and bear- 

 ing short racemes of yellow flowers at the 

 ends of the branches. This was formerly 

 of some importance as a dye plant, but it 

 has long been superseded by dyes of 

 foreign origin. It is commonly known 

 under the name of Woadwaxen or Dyer's 

 Greenweed, but the colour derived from it 

 was a bright yellow, and it was only by 

 afterwards dipping the yellow yarn or 

 cloth into a blue solution of woad (Isatis) 

 that the green tint was obtained. This 

 was the process by which was obtained 

 the once celebrated Kendal green, so called 

 from the town of Kendal in Westmoreland, 

 in the vicinity of which the plant was 

 abundant, and where also the process was 

 first introduced by Flemish emigrants in 

 the reign of Edward III. The plant thrives 

 upon very poor soil, and is regarded by 

 agriculturists of the present day as an 

 indication of the poverty of the land where 

 it abounds. [A. S.] 



GENISTELLA. Genista anglica, and 

 others ; also Aspalathus spinosa. 



GENTIAN. Gentiana. The gentian root 

 of the druggists is furnished by G. lutea. 

 — , BASTARD. Hypericum Sarothra, or 

 Sarothra gentianoides. — , HORSE. Trios- 

 teum. — , SPURRED. Halenia. 



GENTIANACE.E. {Gentianworts.) A na- 

 tural order of corollifloral dicotyledons 

 belonging to Lindley's gentianal alliance 

 of perigynous 'Exogens. Herbs, rarely 

 shrubs, with opposite entire exstipulate, 

 usually ribbed leaves, and showy flowers. 

 Calyx divided, persistent ; corolla persis- 

 tent, imbricate or induplicate, and often 

 twisted in aestivation; stamens alternate 

 with the corolline segments ; ovary of two 

 carpels, placed to the right and left of the 

 axis, one-celled with two parietal often 

 introflexed placentas; style one; stigmas 

 two. Fruit a capsule or berry; seeds nu- 

 merous, with fleshy albumen and a minute 

 embryo. They are found in almost all 

 parts of the world, some at high elevations, 

 and others in hot tropical plains. Bitter- 

 ness prevails generally in the order. Some 

 of the plants have emetic and narcotic 

 qualities. The root of the yellow gentian 

 of the Alps (Gentiana lutea) is used medici- 

 nally as a tonic. In the Himalaya, chirata 

 .(Agathotes Chirayta) is employed as a bitter 

 tonic. Exacum bicolor and Ophelia, elegans 

 are similarly used. There are about 70 

 known genera, and upwards of 500 species. 

 Examples: Gentiana, Swertia, Chironia, 

 Erythrcea, Chlora, Lisianthus, Menyanthes, 

 ViUarsia, Limnanthemum. [J. H. B.] 



GENTIANA. A large genus of herba- 

 ceous plants, giving their name to the 

 order Gentianaceai. The Gentians are per- 

 ennial plants, with opposite ribbed leaves ; 

 a calyx of four or five valvate segments ; 



a four to five or occasionally ten-parted 

 corolla; four to Ave stamens; and a one- 

 celled ovary with two stigmas either sepa- 

 rate and rolled back, or contiguous and 

 funnel-shaped. The fruit is a two-valved, 

 one-celled, many-seeded capsule. While 

 blue is the most frequent colour, yet white, 

 yellow, and even red flowers are met with. 

 The red-flowered species are almost con- 

 fined to the Andes; while blue-flowered 

 species ascend the Himalayas to the height 

 of 16,000 feet. The great majority are 

 found in hilly or mountainous districts, in 

 the northern hemisphere both in the old 

 and new world, extending also to the tro- 

 pics. Most of the genera which inhabit 

 the elevated regions of the temperate or 

 tropical zones are likewise found in the 

 arctic or antarctic regions in great abun- 

 dance, but this does not appear to be the 

 case with Gentiana. 



The abundance and beauty of the Gen- 

 tians on the European Alps never fail to 

 arrest the attention and demand the ad- 

 miration of the traveller, who knows not 

 whether most to admire the noble appear- 

 ance presented by some of the taller more 

 i stately-looking species, such as G. lutea, or 

 j the intensely brilliant blue colour of some 

 of the more lowly-growing species, such 

 as G. verna or acaulis, and which may 

 be found growing in profusion on little 

 I swards environed on all sides by ice-clad 

 rocks and mighty glaciers. A few species 

 are native in the British islands : the most 

 frequently met with being G. Amarella,an 

 | erect branching annual, sometimes attain- 

 ing to the height of ten or twelve inches, 

 I the flowers panicled, of a pale purple colour, 

 ! the calyx with five segments, and the co- 

 , rolla with a fringe of hairs at the throat. 

 G. campestris much resembles this, but 

 has the parts of the flower in fours, not in 

 | fives, and has two of the lobes of its calyx 

 ! larger than the other two, which they over- 

 ! lap. G. Pneumonanthe, a rare English per- 

 ! ennial species, has a stem nearly a foot 

 in height, the upper leaves linear, and the 

 corolla an inch and a half long, bright blue 

 without hairs in its throat, but with five 

 greenish lines on the exterior. G. verna 

 j is a low-growing perennial, growing in 

 ! dense tufts with very short flower-stalks, 

 : terminated by a single bright blue flower. 

 j It is a rare plant in this country, butabun- 

 I dant in mountainous meadows in Central 

 and Southern Europe. G. nivalis is only 

 found in Britain on some of the Scotch 

 mountains: it is a slender branching an- 

 nual, each branch being terminated by a 

 blue flower about half an inch in length. 

 Several of the species are in cultivation, 

 such as G. lutea, G. purpurea, G. acaulis 

 ' the Gentianella of gardens, and G. crinita, 

 ! a North American kind, with the four lobes 



of the corolla fringed at the margin. 

 | It is not only for their beauty that these 

 I plants are prized, but for their medicinal 

 . properties. All the species are, to agreater 

 or less extent, pervaded by a pure bitter 

 I principle, which confers valuable tonic vir- 

 tues on them, not always unaccompanied 

 i by some slight degree of narcotic or acrid 



