Swertia perennis, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1972, Flora Europaea. Volume 3. Diapensiacea to Myoporaceae, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press : 67

1. S. perennis L. , Sp. Pl. 226 (1753) .

Stem (8-)15-60cm, 4-angled, brownish-red or purplish. Lower leaves crowded, ovate to elliptical, obtuse, narrowed to a winged petiole; upper leaves remote, opposite or, less frequently, alternate, sessile, semi-amplexicaul. Calyx-lobes narrow, acuminate. Corolla-lobes 6-16 mm, blue or dirty violet, rarely yellowish-green or white, with darker dots or lines. Capsule 10-12 mm, 2-valved. 2/7 = 28. Wet places, mainly in the mountains. From N. C. France and N. W. Russia southwards to N. Spain, Bulgaria and S. Ural. Au Bu Cz Ga Ge He Hs It Ju Po Rm Rs (B, C, E).

Very variable. Three other species are sometimes recognized, but the correlation of the supposedly distinguishing characters is poor and plants with one or more of these characters occur sporadically across Europe. The names applied to these variants are: S. alpestris Baumg. ex Fuss , Mantissa 19 (1846), with alternate cauline leaves, dark violet flowers with acute corolla-lobes and the fimbriae of the nectary short; S. obtusa Ledeb. , Mem. Acad. Sci. Pétersb. 5: 526 (1815), with alternate cauline leaves, dark violet flowers with obtuse corolla-lobes and the fimbriae of the nectary 3-4 times as long as the nectary; and S. punctata Baumg. , Enum. Stirp. Transs. 1: 190 (1816), which has opposite cauline leaves, greenish-yellow corolla, with acute lobes and the nectary with short fimbriae. None of these seems to merit even subspecific rank and the latter is probably no more than a colour variant of typical 5. perennis .