140 



CASSELL'S POPTJLAE aARDENING. 



his genus includes the Gentiana of Dioscorides and 

 Pliny. Two of the species appear to he natives of the 

 British Isles, viz., O. Fneumonathe and G. verna. The 

 former is known as the Heath Gentian, and Marsh 

 Gentian, and it has local names, such as the Autumn 

 Bellflower, and Harvest Bells, alluding to its time of 

 hlooming, and the form of the corolla ; Marsh Gen- 

 tian, from its growing in hoggy places. It is a British 

 perennial, scarcely less heautiful than any Alpine 

 Gentian, and bears heautiful blue tubular flowers an 

 inch and a half long. G. verna is the Vernal Gen- 

 tian ; it grows in Teesdale, and in a few places on 

 the western shores of Ireland. The blue of this 

 flower is of 

 the most 

 vivid and 

 brilliant de- 

 scription ; it 

 is, in fact, the 

 bluest of the 

 blue — one of 

 the most 

 charming of 

 all Alpine 

 plants, and 

 should be in 

 every garden 

 of hardy 

 flowers. It 

 may be 

 grown well 

 in sandy 

 loam mixed 

 with broken 

 limestone or 

 gravel, and, 



indeed, it is not very particular as to soil, pro- 

 vided that it be mixed with sharp sand and grit, 

 kept moist, and well drained. A very impor- 

 tant point in the culture of this plant is to 

 leave it for several years undisturbed, G. acaulis is 

 best known as the Gentianella ; it is a well-known 

 old inhabitant of our gardens, growing close to the 

 ground, putting forth dense leathery leaves, and 

 bearing on stems, two inches in length, large 

 solitary flowers, of the deepest and most lustrous 

 blue. In some places, such as the moist parts of 

 Yorkshire and Lancashire, where the plant does 

 • well, edgings are made of it, and when dense in 

 foliage and flowers they are of the most exquisite 

 beauty. It does well in a moist, deep loam; it is 

 easily grown, and it should not be frequently 

 disturbed. G. Andrewsi (Andrews' or the Closed 

 Gentian) grows about two feet in height, and pro- 

 duces numerous terminal flowers in axillary clusters. 

 The flowers never expand, remaining as it were in 



Gentiana Vekna 



the bud, and are about one and a half inches in 

 length, of a rich purplish-blue, striped inside with 

 white. G. asclepiadea is a showy border plant, having 

 erect, slender stems, two feet in height, producing an 

 abundance of purplish-blue flowers in long terminal 

 clusters. This is a true herbaceous plant, dying 

 down every year, and thus keeping perfectly safe 

 during the winter. Lastly we name G. septemjida, 

 the Crested Gentian, a lovely plant, bearing, on 

 stems six to twelve inches high, flowers in clusters, 

 cylindrical, widening towards the mouth, of a beau- 

 tiful blue and white inside, greenish-brown outside, 

 having between each of the larger segments of the 



flowers one 

 smaller and 

 finely cut. 

 This is a na- 

 tive of the 

 Caucasus, 

 and one of 

 the most de- 

 sirable spe- 

 cies for culti- 

 vation on the 

 r o ckwor'k, 

 thriving best 

 in moist 

 sandy peat, 

 and increased 

 by division. 

 We may say 

 of all the 

 Gentians 

 that they do 

 best in a 

 moist sandy 



loam or peat ; that they suffer from drought, and 

 shovJd have some amount of shade ; and they are all 

 the more deserving of culture because they supply 

 such rich hues of blue, purple, and violet. 



Geranium or Crane sbill. — Under this head 

 we do not intend to treat of the Pelargoniums ; for 

 though the Pelargonium was at one time included in 

 the genus, which accounts for the existence of the 

 common name Geranium as appHed to them, it is no 

 longer so included, though the Pelargoniums will be 

 certainly known as Geraniums for many years to 

 come. According to one authority. Geranium is 

 derived from Geramos, the Greek for a crane, the 

 seed-capsules being beaked so as to resemble the 

 head and beak of that bird. We have British and 

 imported species. Some of the latter are very 

 handsome, forming dense, leafy, compact bushes of 

 foliage during summer, and flowering freely and 

 continuously. G. pratense, the Meadow Geranium, is 



