THE GENTIAN. 
“ This genus of plant has received its name 
in honour of Gentius, a King of Illyria, who 
is said to have discovered one of the species 
of it. He is also supposed to have experienced 
its virtues on his army, as a cure for the 
plague. 
“ The Gentians are very numerous, and 
many of them eminently beautiful. They are 
generally very difficult to preserve in a 
garden ; and being long-rooted, very few are 
adapted for planting in pots. The smaller 
kinds, however, may be so cultivated : as the 
Swallow wort-leaved, which does not exceed 
a foot in height, and has large light-blue bell 
shaped flowers, blowing in July and August. 
The roots only are perennial; the stalks decay 
annually: and of most of the species, the 
flowers appear but once in two or three years. 
The March Gentian has also fine blue 
flowers, though few in number, and blows in 
August and September. This species grows 
naturally in England and many other parts of 
Europe. 
The Dwarf Gentian, or Gentianella, has a 
most beautiful blue flower, which blows in 
April and May: it is a native of the Alps, 
where it peeps out from amidst the wildest 
w 
