Erythrcea.] L. GENTIANACE^E. 301 



a terminal, repeatedly-forked cyme or panicle. Calyx-segments 5, 

 narrow-linear. Corolla with a slender tube, and a spreading, 5-cleft 

 limb. 



In dry pastures, and sandy places, on banks, roadsides, &c. ; widely 

 spread over Europe and central Asia, extending northward to south 

 Sweden. Common in Britain, excepting in the north of Scotland, 

 where it is almost confined to the coast. Fl. all summer. It varies 

 much in the size and breadth of the foliage and flowers, and has been 

 subdivided into 2, 3, or even 6 or 7 supposed species, which, however, run 

 into one another so much that no precise limits can be assigned them. 

 The most prominent forms or varieties in Britain are : — 



a. Large- flowered G. Tall, not much branched, with a compact cyme 

 and large flowers ; the tube of the corolla long and the lobes ovate. 



b. Common C. (E. pulchella, Fries.). More branched, with numerous 

 flowers ; the tube of the corolla not much longer than the calyx, and 

 the lobes of the limb narrow. 



c. Broad-leaved C. (E. latifolia, Sm.). Including all the dwarf forms 

 with rather large flowers and broad leaves. 



d. Linear 0. (E. littoralis, Fries. ; E. linarifolia y Pers.). Much branched, 

 usually small, with very narrow leaves and rather large flowers. The 

 last two varieties are most frequent near the sea, where they both, as 

 well as the small-flowered varieties, often dwindle down to a simple stem 

 half an inch high, with a single flower. 



[e. Capitate C. (E. capitata, Willd.). Very dwarf, with the flowers in 

 a dense head, and the stamens inserted at the base of the corolla-tube, 

 a position so unusual in the Order as to suggest this being rather an 

 abnormal state than a variety. — Downs, Isle of Wight, and Eastbourne.] 



III. GENTIANA. GENTIAN. 



Herbs, with opposite, entire leaves, and (in the British species) blue 

 flowers, either solitary and terminal or in pyramidal or oblong panicles, 

 the lower ones often axillary. Calyx tubular, often strongly angled, 

 with 5, rarely 4 lobes, seldom reaching below the middle. Corolla with 

 a cylindrical or narrow- campanulate tube, and spreading limb, divided 

 into 5 or rarely 4 lobes, and occasionally 5 additional ones in the angles. 

 Style remaining attached to the capsule after the flower fades. Capsule 

 1-celled, the placentas not meeting in the centre. 



A numerous genus, spread over the northern hemisphere, especially 

 in mountainous districts, and, in the higher ranges of both the New and 

 and Old World, penetrating into the tropics. One very common Swiss 

 species, as well as several other exotic ones, have yellow flowers, but 

 blue is the prevailing colour in the genus. 

 Corolla fringed at the throat with long hairs. 



Calyx-lobes 4, 2 of them broadly ovate 5. G. campestris. 



Calyx-lobes 5, all narrow-lanceolate or linear . . . . 4. G. AmdrelkL 

 Corolla not fringed at the throat. 

 Stem 6 inches to a foot high. Corolla tube above an inch 



long l. G. Pneumonanthe. 



Stem dwarf, seldom above 3 or 4 inches. Corolla an inch 



long or less, with small lobes between the larger ones. 



Tufted perennial, with 1-fiowered stems and a broad limb 



to the corolla 2. G. verna. 



Branched annual, with several flowers and a small limb 



to the corolla 3. G. nivalis. 



