GENTIAXACi.;-. G7 
three principal groups. The (lowers themselves arc more than twice 
the size, and only a few are open at one time. The calyx-segments 
are much more slender, and twice as long. The corolla-tube is 
much longer, and the segments of the limb broader, not tapering 
towards the apex, but widest in the middle. 
Narrow-leaved Can fair;!. 
SPECIES III— ERYTHEMA CENTAURIUE Pers. 
Plate DCCCCIX. 
Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVII. Tab. MLXI. Fig. 1. 
Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 55. 
Chiroiiia Ceutaurium, Curtis, fim. Eng. Bot. eel. i. No. 417. 
Stem stout and elongated, or short and slender, slightly flex- 
uous. Radical leaves obovate or oval, obtuse ; stem-leaves oblong- 
oval or oblong-elliptical, sub-obtuse ; all 3- to 7-nerved. Flowers 
in rather compact corymbose or head-like fasciculate cymes, the 
central flower of each fork of the cyme sessile, the lateral ones 
shortly stalked and with 2 bracts close to the base of the calyx. 
Calyx-srgments rather short, lanceolate-triangular. Corolla-tube 
considerably exceeding the calyx-segments, at length usually twice 
as long ; limb of 5 oval-obtuse segments, shorter than the full- 
grown tube. Capsule cylindrical, considerably longer than the 
calyx. Plant wholly glabrous ; the calyx and. margins of the leaves 
not puberulent. 
In fields, meadows, and damp places, especially on chalky 
soils, and rather partial to the seacoast. Common, and generally 
distributed. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual (?) or biennial. 
Late Summer. 
Stem 2 to 18 inches high, single or several from the crown of the 
root. Leaves very variable in breadth, but generally about twice as 
long as broad, the broader forms with more numerous nerves than 
the narrower ones. Flowers pink, rather numerous. Corolla-tube 
at length J to f inch long ; limb slightly concave, about f inch 
across. 
A polymorphous species, in some of its forms closely resembling 
E. latifolia, from which it differs by its larger flowers, longer mature 
corolla-tube, and much larger and more oval segments of the corolla- 
limb. In E. latifolia the lateral branches of the corymb are con- 
siderably more spreading than in E. Centaurium ; and in stunted 
specimens of the latter, which are most likely to be mistaken for 
E. latifolia, they are frequently absent. 
