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LXIV. GENTIANACEiE 
Glabrous or nearly glabrous herbs ; stems usually erect. 
Leaves opposite, sessile. Flowers in racemes, heads or panicu- 
late cymes. Calyx tubular, 5- rarely 4-lobed, persistent. Corolla- 
tube nearly cylindric, much longer than the lobes ; lobes 4 or 5, 
usually with a fold at the angles. Stamens as many as the 
corolla-lobes, attached to the tube, included. Ovary 1-celled, 
narrowed upwards into the persistent style ; stigma 2-lobed ; 
ovules several or many. Capsule sessile or stalked, more or less 
included in the calyx. 
Flowers less than half an inch long. 
Flowers stalked, in cymes. Calyx about half as long 
as the corolla. 
Leaves green. . . . . . 1 . G. quadrifaria. 
Leaves silvery- shining . . . . . 2. G. aprica. 
Flowers sessile, in heads. Calyx nearly as long as the 
corolla. 
Leaves silvery- shining, narrowly lanceolate. 
Stems leafy . . . . . . . 3. G. argentea. 
Leaves green, broadly ovate. Stems usually naked 4. G. capitata. 
Flowers one to two inches long. 
Stems decumbent. Corolla 5-lobed . . . 5. G. Kurroo. 
Stems erect. Corolla 4-lobed . . . . 6. G. contorta. 
1. Gentiana quadrifaria, Blume ; FI. Br. Ind. iv. 111. Stems 
erect, 4-10 in., branching from the base. Leaves green ; radical 
rosulate, 1-1 \ in. ; upper smaller. Flowers blue, | in. long, in 
terminal cymes. Calyx about half as long as the corolla including 
the broad, acute lobes. Capsule ovoid. 
Simla, Matiana, in meadows ; July. — Temperate Himalaya, 3000-10,000 ft. 
— Burmah, China. 
2. Gentiana aprica, Decaisne ; FI. Br. Ind. iv. 112, under G. 
decern fida. Stems erect, 2-6 in., usually much branched. Leaves 
silvery-shining ; radical rosulate, broadly ovate, ^ in. ; stem-leaves 
narrowly lanceolate, J in. 
Flowers blue, J in. long, in 
terminal cymes. Calyx about 
half as long as the corolla ; 
lobes narrow, finely pointed. 
Capsule ovoid. 
Sutlej valley, Suni ; April. — 
N. India, ascending to 3000 ft. 
3. Gentiana argentea, Royle ; 
FI. Br. Ind. iv. 112. Stems 
leafy, erect, 1-4 in., simple or 
Fig. ioi. Gentiana argentea. branched. Leaves silvery- 
shining, lanceolate, finely 
pointed, recurved, \ in. ; radical rosulate ; stem-leaves rather 
shorter. Flowers sessile, blue, J in. long, crowded in terminal, 
