562 



THE GENTIAN FAMILY. 



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



to the corolla 2. Spring O. 



Branched annual, with several flowers and a small limb to 



the corolla 3. Small G. 



The Gentianella of our gardens is the Gentiana acaulis, a mountain 

 species, very common in central Europe, but not a native of Britain. 



1. Marsh Gentian, 



Fig. 670. 

 nor recorded from Ireland. 



Gentiana Pneumonanthe, Linn. 



(Fig. 070.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 20.) 



Itootstock perennial. Stems simple, 

 erect, 6 inches to a foot or more high. 

 Lower leaves oblong-lanceolate, the up- 

 per 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 nar- 

 row. Corolla an inch and a half or 

 more long, of a deep blue within, with 5 

 greenish, broad lines outside ; the tube 

 without hairs at the throat ; the lobes 

 rather short, broad and spreading. 



In moist heaths and pastures, chiefly 

 in hilly districts, throughout Europe 

 and Russian Asia, except the extreme 

 north. In Britain, more frequent in 

 northern than in central or southern 

 England, but not a native of Scotland 

 Fl. autumn. 



2. Spring Gentian. Gentiana verna, Linn, (Fig. 671.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 493.) 



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 smaller 2-cleft ones between them. 



