beautifulflowers032840mbp

46 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS OF KASHMIR [Plate 13
Swertia speciosa, Wall.
Showy Swertia.
Stems robust, 2-4 ft. high, hollow, i in. thick. Eadicai
leaves long-stalked, stem-leaves opposite, stalkless, egg-shaped,
5 by 2 in., long-pointed, narrowed downwards, bases united,
stem-clasping. Clusters of flowers forming a narrow panicle.
Flower-stalks i-3 in. long. Flowers lurid grey, li in. diameter.
Sepals 5, by in., egg-shaped, toothed, much overlapping
at the base. Corolla 5-lobud, lobes f by y in., spoon-shapedoblong,
2 long-fringed glands on each lobe. Seeds compressed,
narrowly winged.
Locality. Sonamarg, 9,000 ft.
Distribution. W. Himalaya, from Kashmir to Kumaon, up
to 10,500 ft.
Swertia Thomson!, C. B. Clarke.
Thomson's Swertia.
Stem hollow. Lower stem-leaves long-stalked, oblong or
elliptic, scarcely united at the base, upper often stalkless.
Clusters of flowers forming a narrow panicle. Stalks of
flower-clusters often 6 in. long. Sepals 5, sharp-pointed, i by
tk in. Corolla-lobes 5, almost blunt, i by -J- in., glands 2
yellow spots near the base of each lobe, obscure. Capsule
i-i in. long. Seeds small, globose, somewhat angular, narrowly
or irregularly winged, finely netted, glistening.
Locality. Sonamarg.
Distribution. Kashmir, apparently endemic.
Swertia tetragona, C. B. Clarke.,
Stems i-2 ft.
high, usually branching. Leaves lance-shaped,
f-1 in. long, 3-1-nerved. Sepals 5, narrowly lance-shaped,
6 in. long. Corolla nearly white, lobes 5, more than i in.
long, two oblong, hairy glands on each lobe. Filaments of
stamens linear, not united ; anthers oblong, h albert-shaped to
the middle. No style. Stigmas of 2 hemispheric plates.
Capsule 1-i in. long, oblong, blunt. Seeds small.
Eesernbles Swertia paniculata, but can be distinguished by
the absence of the style and the halbert-shaped anthers.
Flowers. September.
Locality. Temperate regions.
Distribution. From Kashmir to Simla, 5,000-8,000 ft.