801. Swertia purpurascens, Wall, h.f.b.l, iv. 121.
Vern. :— Chiretta (H.).
Habitat : — Temperate North West Himalaya, from Kashmir to Kumaon.
An annual herb, with stems 8-36in , solid, erect, terete, or 4-lanceolate. Leaves opposite, 3-1 — nerved, 1½ by ½in., oblong or lanceolate, base narrowed, lowest sub-obtuse ; uppermost acute, glabrous. Panicles divaricate, many-flowered, leafy ; pedicels often clustered. Flowers. 5-merous Sepals 1/6in., almost free, oblong, 1-nerved. Corolla-lobe ¼in., ovate, acute, purple or dark red, reflexed in flower ; pits solitary near the base of each lobe, horse-shoe-shaped, naked. Stamen tube erect, filaments puberulous, united into a short tube free from the Corolla. Anthers elliptic-lanceolate, much acuminate ; style long ; stigmas sublinear. Seeds 1/50in. diam., globose, smooth, light-yellow when ripe. " This species is recognised at once by the red-purple much-reflexed corolla-lobes." (C. B. Clarke).
Uses : — Collected as a substitute for true chirettah and exported to the plains.
802. S paniculata, Wall, h.f.b.l, iv. 122.
Vern.: — Kadavi (Mar.).
Habitat.: — Temperate Western Himalaya, from Kashmir to Nepal.
Close resemblance to S. purpurascens when dried. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, 3-1-nerved. Sepals 1/5in., oblong, acute, sub-1-nerved. Corolla-lobes ¼in., ovate, acute, white in the upper half, patent, not reflexed in flower ; pit very near the base of the Corolla, 1 to each lobe, naked ; near the base of the Corolla-lobe are two purple or lurid-green sub-glandular marks, sometimes confluent into one. Filaments hardly dilated downwards, not puberulous, linear, separately attached to the Corolla-tube. Anthers oblong, not hastate. Style long, stigmas , linear. Capsule ½in., elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate. Seeds as of S. purpurascens, but rather smaller.
Use :— Used as a substitute for true chirettah.
