a 3 
—_ 
oe: THE GENTIAN FAMILY. [Gentiana. 
The Gentianella of our gardens is the Gentiana acaulis, a mountain ~ 
species, very common in central Hur mie but not a native of Britain. 
1. G. Pneumonanthe, Linn. (fig. 677). Marsh G.—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 
Kurope 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 G.—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 ole 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. 
8. 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). Autwnn 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 — 
as 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. FV. end of summer 
