52 
GENTIANA SEPTEMFIDA. 
petals, and the closeness with which the blossoms are aggregated, are the principal 
criteria by which it may be distinguished. 
It was introduced from Persia more than thirty years ago, and inhabits various 
alpine districts of the Crimea, of Mount Caucasus, and of the shores of the Caspian 
Sea. Believing that the genus of which it is a very worthy member, and the species 
itself individually, are but inadequately esteemed and cultivated, we had the 
accompanying figure prepared from a plant that blossomed most beautifully in the 
excellent collection of Messrs. Young, of Epsom, about July, 1840. Its great 
merits are the extreme abundance in which it flowers — a fine specimen generally 
producing five, six, or a larger number of spikes equal to that depicted — and the 
capacity it possesses of thriving in an ordinary border, as well as rapidly increasing- 
in size. 
At the Epsom nursery, where a peculiarly extensive variety of these delightful 
little plants exist, some are kept in pots, in a shaded situation, throughout the 
summer, and placed in a cold frame during winter ; the rest being planted in a 
corner of the garden which is well screened by hedges. Those in the former position 
are safer, because they can be more effectually preserved from moisture in winter, 
though the others are seldom injured from any source. 
When grown in the open ground, it seems especially desirable to secure them 
against worms, ants, &c., which do not eat or deface them, but cast up the earth 
into the cavities formed by the axils of their leaves, and thus either smother their 
tender shoots, or cause water to collect around them, to their serious damage or 
destruction. To remedy this, with the lower kinds, a stiff adhesive earth is to be 
selected ; while around the base of such as that now under consideration, a few 
small pebbles may be laid, which will obviate the necessity for any other than the 
most common soil. 
By dividing the plant in the spring, a multiplication, equal to the rate of growth 
of the species, can be at once ensured. 
