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Plate 43] SWEBTIA LIMNANTHEMUM 49
Swertia Chirata, Ham. Chiretta.
(Chirata or chiretta is the vernacular name for the medicinal
roots and stems obtained from this plant.)
Stems robust, 2-5 ft. high, branching, rounded except near
the top. Leaves broadly lance-shaped, 4 by li in., lower
sometimes stalked. Panicle large, leafy, many-flowered.
Calyx lobes 4, ^ in. long, lance-shaped. Corolla green -yellow,
tinged with purple, lobes i in. long, egg-shaped, the two glands
on each lobe green, fringed with long white or pink hairs.
Filaments of stamens linear, free ; anthers oblong. Style
cylindric. Stigmas oblong. Capsule i in. and more, eggshaped,
sharp-pointed. Seeds ^ in., smooth, finely netted
or not.
Flowers. September, October.
Locality. Temperate regions.
Distribution. From Kashmir to Bhutan, 4,000-10,000 ft.,
Khasia Hills, 4,000-5,000 ft.
LIMNANTHEMUM, S. P. Gmel. The Water- Snowflake,
also called Water-Lily.
(Limnantlicmum is derived from the Greek limne, a marsh, and
anthamon, flowering, and means therefore a marsh-flower.)
Fig. 5. Limnanthemum nymphaeoides, Link.
(Nymphaeoides means resembling Nymphaca, the Water-Lily.)
A water-plant. Stems long, floating, rooting at the nodes.
Leaves almost opposite, 1-2 in. diameter, round, deeply heartshaped,
stalk 1-2 in. long. Flowers in axillary umbels, flowerstalks
1-4 in. long. Flowers yellow. Calyx-lobes 5, i by i in.
Corolla-lobes 1-1 in., crenulate-ciliate. Stamens on the corollatube
;
filaments linear, short. Anthers halbert-shaped-oblong.
Ovary 1-celled; capsule 1 in. long, ellipsoid, sharp-pointed.
Seeds many, ^ in. diameter, ellipsoid, winged.
Flowers. May.
Locality. Dal district ;
between Srinagar and Gulmarg, in
ditches along roads.
Distribution. From W. and Central Euroi>fl to China.