OF ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 269 
OTHER SPECIES OF GENTIANA. 
G. INCARNATA, Sims. 
A native of North America, with dingy pink flowers, introduced by Mr. Lyon in 1812. 
G. VISCOSA, Ait. 
A very handsome biennial, a native of the Canaries, introduced in 1781. The flowers are yellow. 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
POLEMONIACEiE. 
rally oblong. Placenta trigonal, central, applied to the angles of the 
dissepiments. Seeds mucilaginous ; albumen fleshy ; embryo lai-ge, 
straight. 
Charicteb of the Order. — Calyx tubular, five-cleft. Corolla 
with a five-lobcd limb, imbricate or twisted in testivation. Anthers 
sagittate, iueumbent, two-celled. Style very long. Stigma three- 
lobed ; lobes linear, obtuse. Capsule three-celled, three-valvcd, gene- 
Description, &c. — The plants belonging to this order are generally ornamental ; but the greater part of the 
nardy genera contain only annuals. 
GENUS I. 
POLEMONIUM, Lin. THE GREEK VALERIAN. 
iin. Stjst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
tube. Anthers incumbent. Capsule roundish, with crustaceous valves, 
covered with a permanent calyx. Cells many-seeded. Seeds oblong, 
filled with large albumen. 
Geniirio Character. — Calyx campanulate, five-cleft. Corolla 
rotate, with a short tube, and a fivc-lobed limb. Stamens five, equal, 
inserted in the throat of the corolla. Filaments dilated at the base, 
and forming a continuous ring, which nearly closes the mouth of the 
Descbiption, &c. — All the species are hardy herbaceous plants, with very ornamental flowers, which are 
cither blue or white. The word Polemonium is said to signify war, and to arise from the circumstance of the 
plant having occasioned a war between two kings, each of whom claimed the honour of its discovery, on account 
of its valuable medicinal properties. The story is, however, extremely vague ; and it is more than probable 
that tlie singular name of the genus alhided to the plant being useful in war, on account of its property of 
stanching blood. 
1 POLEMONIUM CCERULEUM, Lin. THE BLUE GREEK VALERIAN, OR JACOBS-LADDER. 
SvNoNVMES. — Valeriana coerulea, Bauh. ; V. grasca, Dod. ; Lad- 
der of Heaven ; Charity. 
Ehoravings. — Eng. Bot. t. 17 ; Bot. Reg. t. 1303. 
Specific Character. — Stem glabrous ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 
ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous ; segments of the calyx ovate, 
acuminate ; flowers erect, corymbose ; segments cf corolla roundish. 
Description, &c. — This species is found in poor sandy soils, in various parts of England, and throughout 
the whole of the north of Europe. There are numerous varieties — one of which has the flowers white, another 
the leaves variegated, and another the flowers white and blue. Another variety, that figured in the Botanieal 
Register, is a native of Nortli America, and has large flowers of a most beautiful pale blue. 
