108 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
nearly naked racemes above. But it has narrow leaflets 
and wide petals, is practicallj^ glandless, and has a small 
round fruit with large drupelets, in allot which it is just the 
opposite of that well-known species. 
FEW new facts have been learned the past season 
*^ i concerning the habits of the fringed gentain, which 
perhaps ma\' be of some interest to American Botanist 
readers. 
It has been found that the seeds of a given sowing flo 
not all germinate the first season. Thus, a considerable 
number which were expected to !ir- . i- " ■ '. ■ 
of 1904, from the planting <.: 
not appear until this spring 
noticed coming up beside tli. 
made a season's growth. Th. : 
ence with one another hctwtv 
Autumn, flowering plants an. ! 
were ixjund growing side by ^ 
Such a peculiarity if constant ; 
colony well in providing a s = : 
occ a s i o n a 1 1 y h a p pe n . 
The dei)auperate plants so often n<:>ticed in the field, 
may be i)roduccd by the thousaml, if one will simply allow 
the seedlings to remain crowded in the seed bed. The 
writer had them of all descriptions the last summer. Fcw 
of them were able to reach a heigiit of six inches, or pro- 
duce more than one or two blossoms. It is remarkable 
how persistently each would blossom under unfavorable 
conditions. One depauperate in particular \\ as so dimin- 
utive as to hardly pass for a gentian at first sight, the 
leaves being little more than bracts, and the blossom 
correspondingly small. 
FRINGED GENTIAN NOTES. 
