GENT 
•mentioned by Ray under the name of G. fugax verna f; 
prsecox, differing in no refpeff from amarella except in 
the time of flowering | this earlinefs may perhaps be 
owing to the plants having fpriing up in autumn, and 
flood the winter. 
42. Gentiana auriculata, or eared gentian : corollas 
four and five cleft, bell-fiiaped, villofe within,, the aU 
ternate fcgments cordate. Upright, almoft: fimple, a 
foot or lefs in height; found throughout all Kamt- 
fchatka, theiflands towards Japan and'America, and on 
the fliore of America itfelf; the herb, both frefii and 
dry, is ufed by the natives as a ftomachic and antifcor- 
butic, and againft vernal diarrhoeas caufed by feeding 
on firii ; it is not however fo bitter as fome of the other 
fpecies; it flowers the beginning of Auguft, and per. 
fefts its feeds in September. 
III. Corollas not five-cleft. 43. Gentiana campeflris, 
or field gentian: corollas four-cleft, bearded at the throat; 
calyx four-leaved, the two outer fegments very large. 
Linnaeus can hardly be perfuaded that this is diftindf 
from amareila. No. 41. He thinks it may be a variety, 
or perhaps a hybridous pr mule plant. Scopoli boldly 
makes them one, becaufe the flowers dole at the ap¬ 
proach of wet, in both ; the ears of the corolla are finely 
jagged and upright; the edges of the calycine teeth are 
reflex ; the bafe of the corolla adheres fo clofe to tlie 
calyx, that when torn away it carries off the inner fkin 
along with it; and the fligmas are alike in form and po- 
fition. Others have no doubt of their being perfeftly 
diftind. The calyx in this confifts of four fcparate 
leaflets; the two outer oval-lanceolate, very large ; the 
inner lanceolate, fomething membranaceous, but one- 
fourth the breadth of the outer; flem more angular, ap¬ 
proaching to Iquare, and bi'anched ; the branches longer 
than the leaves, with the flowers more fcattered ; leaves 
fhorter, and not fo fliarply pointed ; the flowers alfo are 
larger thanthofeof amarella, though the plant isufually 
fmaller. Haller defcribes it as extremely branched, 
and there are fpeciinens in England branched from the 
root to near the top ; tli,e branches long, with leaves and 
flowers fcattered the whole length ; but amarella has 
the branches Ihort, even the lower ones not exceeding 
the length of the leaves from w liich they fprang; the 
upper ones in general much fliorter. Native of moll 
part of Europe from Lapland to Italy ; frequent in Ruflia 
and Siberia to the lake Baikal; whereas Pallas has not 
obferved amarella in Siberia, nor in Ruflia, except on 
mount Caucafus. With us it is not fo common as ama¬ 
rella : but it has been obferved about Kendal and other 
places in the north, in Wales, Chc-fhire, Cornwall, Strat- 
ton-heath in Norfolk, Bury in Suffolk, &c. In Englifh 
Botany it is obferved, that it grows in paftures, more 
particulary towards the fea; and that it is not (b much 
confined to a calcareous foil as the amarella ; Linmeus 
fays that it flowers in fummer, after the Iblflice ; with 
us in September and Odober ; various months are fet 
down by others, as April to June, and Auguil; Dr. 
Withering fays that he has feen it flowering in a garden 
in Odfober. This, as vvell as the two former, is annual. 
According to Linmeus, poor people ufe it inftead of 
hops in beer; and according to Pallas, as a medicine, in 
common with many other IJ.ccies. 
44. Gentiana ciliata, or fringed-flo-wered gentian : co¬ 
rollas four-clefr, cilialeat tlie edge. Root Ihiall, round, 
ftraight, not annual; (biennial, Pallas.J Stalk from two 
to’ eight inches long, (a foot, Haller,) reddilh, angular, 
fmootii, leafy; fometimes fimpleand one flowered, fbme- 
times with oppofue branches, terminated by upright, 
feflile, folltary flowers; the corolla varies in different 
countries; in America it is much ciliated ; in Italy but 
little-; in Iceland and Norway it is only ferrate. Pallas 
remarks, that this.fpccies is the connecting link betv/een 
this genus and theSwertias; that it is very upright, with 
ftiff branches, fometimes exceedingly branched, much 
higher in Siberia and mount Caucafus than the European 
plant, but with fmaller flowers; Pallas has figured them 
VoL. Vlll. No. 506. 
IAN A.. 
both; Native of Swifferland, Norway; Denmark, 
Germany, Auftria, Carniola, Italy, Siberia, Caucafus, 
Canada; flowering in Auguft and September; in Italy 
in Odtober, and even till winter : it is ufed officinally, 
by the natives; and deferves a place in gardens from 
the beauty of the flow'ers. 
45. Gentiana cruciata, or crofTwort gentian: corollas 
four-cleft; beardlefs, flowers in whorls feflile. The 
root is perennial; and it puts up feveral ftalks, from a 
Ipan to a foot high and more. The leaves being ia 
pairs, and each pair crofling the next at right angles,- 
has given occafion to the trivial name cruciata, and the 
Englifli name crojfxuorl gentian. Native of Switzerland, 
Germany, Auftria, Carniola, Hungary, the Apennines,. 
Rullia, and Siberia ; flowering in July and Auguft : in 
our gardens it flowers in June, and fometimes in May. 
Cultivated in 1596, by Gerarde. 
46. Gentiana leflilis, or feflile gentian : corollas four- 
cleft, flowers ftemlefs, leaves ovate. Native of Chili. 
47. Gentiana filiformis; leaft gentian, or marfn cen¬ 
taury : corollas four-cleft beardlefs, ftalk dichotomous 
filiform. Root white, woody, limple or with large 
fibres; root-leaves fnrall, narrow, oblong ; ftalk about 
three inches high, fiinple or branched, at each joint a 
pair of finall, narrow, fliarp leaves; flowers at the ends- 
of the branches on long pedicels, yellow, fmall, almoft 
always clofed, f'eeming as far as could be difeerned, to 
have five petals. Every part of the herb is fmooth ; 
the flowers expanding only in bright funftiine. Annual, 
growing in bogs, in Denmark, France, and England 7 
Mr. Ray firft remarked it towards the end of Cornwall 
(near St. Ives) in rotten marfliy ground; Dr. Pulteney 
fent it out of Dorfetftiire ; it is allb found in Hampfliire 
and Devonfhire. The time of flowering is July. 
48. Gentiana heteroclita, or irregular gentian : flowers 
four-cleft, irregular; ftalk bracliiate. Root annual, 
fibrous; the plant has the appearance of G. centaurium; 
ftalk erett, a fpan hi^h, dichotomous, quadrangular; 
Flowers lellile, folitary in the divifion.s of the ftein, of a- 
purple colour. Native of Malabar, in cultivated fieids; 
dil'covered by Koenig. 
49. Gentiana fcandens, or climbing gentian: ftem 
fhrubby climbing, corollas bell-fliaped five-cleft, in 
elongated pendulous panicles. Stern large, woody, 
round, with many very long climbing branches, with¬ 
out (pines or tendrils. Native both of China and Co¬ 
chin-china, climbing trees and hedges; it has an uh- 
pleafant fetid fmell, which is loft in drying ; and a very 
bitter flavour. In the Chinefe plant the leaves are often 
cordate, iligjitly emarginate at the bafe. It is tonic and 
ftomachic. 
30. Gentiana fimbriata, or fringed gentia-si : corollas- 
bell-lhaped, ten-cleft, alternate fcgments fringed and 
fmaller, leaves lanceolate. Stem round, ereC:t, limple. 
Native of Virginia. 
51. Ge.'itiana ditfufa, or branched gentian; Item 
branched dicliotomoiis divaricate, leaves ovate-oblong, 
peduncles capillary one or two-flowered. Native of 
the Eaft Indies. 
52. Gentiana albens, or white gentian: leaves 
ovate fteni-clafping, calyxes ovate, fteni trichotomoiis. 
33. Gentiana dubia, or doubtful gentian ; corollas four- 
cleft, calyx lanceolate, panicle terminating tricliotomo-us 
fuperdecompound. Natives of the Cape of Good Hope ; 
obferved by Thunberg. 
Ptopagation arnd Culture. Of this numerous genus not 
above (ixteen are cultivated in our gardens ; and five 
only are wild in this country. The greater part are 
natives of the Fiuropean Alps. Several of ti\cfe have 
been lately introduced from thence by Drs. Pitcairn • 
and Fothcrgill, but it is difficult to preferve Ibme- of 
them long in a fituation fo different from their proper 
one. Clulius affirms, that he could not by any art make 
the fecond or third fpecies continue, or bear flowers in. 
a garden; the perennial forts in general may be propa¬ 
gated both ifom feed, and by offsets, taken oft iaauiumn,, 
40 . which ■ 
