Swertia
(named after Iman. Swert, a famous cultivator of bulbs, &c., in Holland, author of "Florilegium," 1612). Felwort. SYNS. Agathotes, Henricea, Monobothrium, Ophelia. ORD. Gentianeae. A genus comprising about forty species of greenhouse or hardy, erect, annual or perennial herbs, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and Africa, mostly in mountainous regions. Flowers blue, rarely yellow, clustered, cymose, or loosely pedicellate, disposed in racemiform, thyrsoid, or loosely corymbose panicles; calyx four or five-parted; corolla rotate, with a very short tube, the lobes twisted to the right; stamens four or five, affixed at the base of the corolla. Leaves opposite, or in the perennial species radical, on long petioles; cauline ones occasionally alternate. The species described below are--with the exception of S. perennis--all Indian annuals. Seeds should be sown on a hotbed, and the seedlings, when frosts are well over, transplanted where they are intended to remain. S. perennis was once reported as having been found growing wild in Wales, but this has never been confirmed.
S. alata (winged). fl. lurid green-yellow, veined with purple, four-parted, in large panicles; corolla lobes often shorter than the calyx. Summer. l., cauline ones sub-sessile, ovate, acute. Stem four-angled, often four-winged. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1868. (B. M. 5687, fig. 12, under name of Ophelia alata.) S. angustifolia (narrow-leaved). fl. usually white, dotted with blue or black; sepals often longer than the corolla. Summer. l. narrow-lanceolate, narrowed at base. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1868. (B. M. 5687, figs. 3, 4, under name of Ophelia angustifolia.) S. corymbosa (corymbose).* fl. pale blue, or white with blue nerves; cymes forming a level-topped corymb. May. l., lower cauline ones 3/4in. long, spathulate-obovate, obtuse, slightly petioled; upper ones sessile, ovate or oblong, 1/2in. long, sub-acute. Stem 8in. to 20in. high, quadrangular or four-winged. 1836. (B. M. 4489, under name of Ophelia corymbosa.) S. paniculata (panicled).* fl., sepals oblong, acute; corolla lobes white above, with two purple or lurid-green marks at base; panicle branched. Summer. l. oblong or lanceolate. h. 1ft. 1868. (B. M. 5687, figs. 5, 6, under name of Ophelia paniculata.) S. perennis (perennial). Marsh Felwort. fl. erect; corolla blue, with dark spots, the segments elliptic-oblong and slightly acute. July. l., lower ones oblong-elliptic, on long petioles; cauline ones opposite, ovate-oblong, somewhat obtuse. Stem ascending, many-flowered. h. 9in. Europe. Hardy perennial, requiring a moist, half-boggy position. (F. D. 2047; R. G. 1885, 274.) S. purpurascens (purplish). fl. purple or dark red; sepals oblong; corolla lobes 1/4in. long, ovate, much reflexed; panicles divaricate, many-flowered, leafy. June. l. oblong or lanceolate, 1 1/2in. long, narrowed at base; the lowest ones nearly obtuse, the uppermost ones acute, glabrous. Stems 8in. to 3ft. high. 1840.
S. trichotoma (trichotomous). fl. white; corolla lobes often caudate; pedicels 1/8in. to 1 1/4in. long, numerous, umbelled or clustered at the ends of the cyme branches. Summer. l., upper cauline ones elliptic-lanceolate. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. 1863. This is closely allied to S. corymbosa. (B. M. 5397, under name of Ophelia umbellata.)