EXACUM FILIFORME. LEAST GENTIANELLA.
EXACUMfiliforme \ foliis sessilibus, caule filiformi dichotomo, pedunculis elongatis. Sm.
EXACUM filiforme. SmHh Engl. Bot. t. £35. With. Bot. A rr. ed. 4. ml. Q. t . 101 Ft Brit
% I8®- H B B t- 630; Deccmd. FI. Fr.ed. 3. ml. 3. p . 663. Ft. Galt.
S yn .p . 34,8. Pen. Syn. PL mL 1 . p . 136. Aiton S o rt. Kew. ed. £ ml. 1 . p 350
GENTIANA filiform!». Linn.Sp. P i p . 335. Hude.AngLp. 103. Oed. FI. Dan. I 324 Haffin
Germ. ed. £. ml. l. P . I. p. 12 3 . w
CENTAURIUM palustre luteum minimum nostras. Rail Syn. p . 286.
Dut. Kogelpyp. Fr. La Gentianellc. Germ. Die Kugelröhre. It. Port.r& Span. Esaco.
C lass a n d Ord er . TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[Natural Ord e r . GENTIANEÆ, Juss. Decand.]
Gen. Char. Calyx quadrifidus. Corolla hypocrateriformis, tubo ventricoso. Capsula bisulca, mono- bi lorn
Ians, polysperma, apice dehiscens. Stigma capitatum.
Gen. Char. Calyx quadrifid. Corolla hypocrateriform, with the tube ventricose. Capsule marked wifh t«,n
furrows, one- or two-celled, many-seeded, opening at the extremity. Stigma capitate.
Tota planta pallide viridis, senectute fusco-rufescens.
Radix annua, parva, fibrosa.
Caulis digitalis, raro altior, erectus, dichotomus, flex-
uosus, glaber, teretiusculus, basi proecipue fo-
liosus.
Folia spathulato-lanceolata, integerrima, opposita, basi
connata, carnosa, radicalia majora, sed vix tres
lineas longa, patentia vel etiam reflexa, approxi-
mata; reliqua valde remota, magis angusta, erec- 1
ta, cauli appressa.
Pedunculi terminales lateralesque, erecti, biunciales,
graciles, uniflori.
Calyx quadridentatus, dentibus acutis margine mem-
branaceis.
Corolla persistens, flava, hypocrateriformis. Tubus
. germini arete appressus, ventricosus ; limbo quadripartite,
patente ; laciniis ovatis, planiusculis,
obtusis.
Stamina quatuor, paulo infra faucem corollæ inserta,
et cum ejus laciniis alternantia. Filamenta brevia.
Antheræ paululum exsertæ, flavæ.
Germen ovatutn.
Stylus germinis longitudine, filiformis.
Stigma capitatum.
Pericarpium: Capsula calyce corollaque persistenc
e s tecta, oblongo-ovata, acuminata, unilocula-
ns, bivalvis, longitudinaliter dehiscens.
ilECEPTACULA e valvarum marginibus introflexis.
emina numerosa, fusca, ovata, subangulata, punctata,
lntegumentum crus taceo-coriaceum.
albumen semini conforme, album, carnosum.
lmbryo mtralbutninosa, oblonga, recta.
OTYLEDONES breves. Radicula umbilicum spectans.
The whole plant is of a pale-green colour, becoming by
age of a brownish red. 6 J
Root annual, small, fibrous.
Stalk rarely exceeding a finger’s length in height, erect
dichotomous, flexuose, smooth, nearly round'
leafy, especially at the base.
Leaves between spathulqte and lanceolate, entire opposite,
connate a t the base, fleshy, the radical
ones the largest, yet scarcely three lines long
patent or slightly reflexed, approximated; the
others very remote, more narrow, erect, placed
close to the stalk.
P eduncles terminal and lateral, erect, two inches in
length, slender, one-flowered.
Calyx four-cleft, the segments acute, membranaceous
at the margin.
Corolla persistent, yellow, hypocrateriform. Tube
closely appressed to the germen, ventricose; the
limb four-partite, patent; the segments ovate
plane, obtuse.
Stamens four, inserted a little below^the orifice of the
corolla, and alternating with its segments. Filaments
short.
Anthers a little exserted, yellow.
G e rm en ovate.
Style the same length as the germen, filiform.
St igma capitate.
P e r ica rp • Capsule covered with the persistent calyx
and corolla, oblong-ovate, acuminated, one-celled
two-valved, splitting longitudinally.
Receptacles formed by the inflexed margins of the
Seeds numerous, brown, ovate, slightly angular, dotted
Integument between crustaceous and coriaceous ’
Albumen of the same figure as the seed, white, fleshy'
.Embryo within the albumen, oblong straight.
Cotyledons short. Radicle looking towards the nm-
bilicum.
■a»“t K n d X r f 11“h ‘, is ratlS r °fscarce occurrence in Britain. The stations for it in the Botanist's Guide
Cornwall • ,,„d-S d’ between Penzance and St. Ives; sand-banks between St. Blazev’s-bridae anrl th J v ™ I
whichlastmpnHUS jaitS of -Devonshire and Dorsetshire; and on Horsham-common,^Sussex*3 abundanri
t r cimens herc figured were « b*;**■
i » * — ■ “«her autljors is called two-celled, is composed in realUyTbut ™ ■ ■ ■
[ ffflra than t0 orn?ed by the jncrassated inflexed margins of the valves. It comes nearer nerhnns i n ir
« i" I — M B ,!>"« «he number of its anthers, the divisions of Bi i l M M W M l°
8 * S'”“, and anthers whose filaments are never spirally twisted. 3 “ wel1