THE SPRING GENTIAN— continued. 
The genus Gentiana divides into two sub-genera, according to the position of 
the nectaries : in Eugentiana they are on the base of the ovary ; and in Gentianella 
they are on the base of the corolla-tube. In each sub-genus a series of progressively, 
more highly specialised flowers can be traced. In the sub-genus Eugentiana , Gentiana 
lutea Linne, which was, no doubt, the species of which Gentius discovered the 
medical virtues, is a tall yellow-flowered form in the Alpine mountains. Its corolla 
is rotate : it is homogamous and its honey is freely exposed, so as to be accessible to 
any short-tongued insects. The magnificent Marsh Gentian ( G . Pneumonanthe Linne), 
with large blue, white, or rarely pink flowers, which is found on some of our boggy 
heaths, has a long wide tube without hairs, is protandrous, and is chiefly pollinated 
by humble-bees ; but the Spring Gentian (G. verna Linne) has a longer and narrower 
corolla, with two scales on the pleat between each lobe, and is visited chiefly by 
butterflies. A similar series can be traced in the sub-genus Gentianella , which 
includes our more common upland species G. Amarella Linn6 and G. campestris Linne. 
As the opening blossoms of the dwarf blue Gentians melt their way through 
lingering alpine snow-drifts, or cover with a profusion of flowers from their matted 
stems the little lawns bounded by rocks or glaciers, they have well been described as 
“The heavens up-breaking through the earth.” 
Among these none is more beautiful than G. verna ; and, though Gentians are by no 
means easy of cultivation, it has now become a great favourite for the rock-garden. 
In our islands it is of very limited distribution, being confined to Teesdale and a few 
localities in the west of Ireland. Where it does occur, however, on wet limestone 
rocks, it is often abundant ; but its conspicuous beauty endangers its very existence. 
Vandals, filled only with a desire for filthy lucre, ruthlessly uproot it in quantity ; 
so that it is one of the most striking examples of the necessity of some Wild Plant 
Protection Act, if those who come after us are to enjoy the beauties of Nature to 
anything like the extent to which we are able to do. Its deep blue blossoms appear 
from March to June, and in Ireland it reaches altitudes of 2,400 feet, though 
abundant at far greater elevations in the Alps and other mountains of Central Europe 
and northern and western Asia. 
The medicinal value shared in varying degrees by all kinds of Gentian, and 
for which some forty species are employed in different parts of the world, depends 
upon a pure bitter principle resembling tannin. G. campestris has been used in 
Scandinavia as a substitute for hops ; and, as the roots of the Yellow Gentian also 
contain some sugar, a cordial, known as Enzianbranntwein, is made from it in 
Switzerland and Bavaria. 
