Swertia paniculata Wall.

 
  • Family : GENTIANACEAE
    (Gentian Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : BHUIN NEEM FAMILY
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Gentianaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Ophelia paniculata (Wall.) D.Don; Ophelia wallichii G.Don; Swertia griffithii C.B.Clarke
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Swertia paniculata
  • Common name : Panicled Swertia
  • Vernacular name :
    • Charaita (Hindi)
    • Kiratatikta (Sanskrit)
    • Chiraito, Tite (Nepali)
  • Habit : Herb
  • Habitat : Edges of swamps, scrub slopes, forests; 2100 - 3300 m. altitude
  • Comments / notes : Decoction of the plant is used as tonic. Plant is also used as substitute for Chirayita in the treatment of malaria and other fever.
  • Key identification features : Annuals 80-120 cm tall. Roots yellow, fibrous. Stems erect, 1.5-4 mm in diam., striate, branched. Basal leaves withered at anthesis. Stem leaves subsessile, lanceolate, 2-5.5 cm × 4-14 mm, abaxially puberulent, adaxially sometimes glabrous, base obtuse, margin ciliolate, apex acuminate; veins 1-3, prominent. Inflorescences panicles of cymes, many flowered, spreading, to 70 cm. Pedicel erect, 0.6-1.5 cm, terete, striate. Flower 5merous. Calyx tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes ovate-lanceolate, 6-10 × 2-5 mm, slightly unequal, papillate, margin ciliolate, apex acuminate; veins 1-3, indistinct. Corolla pale yellow-green, with 2 blackish purple spots above each nectary, tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes ovate, 6-8 mm, apex acute. Nectaries 1 per corolla lobe, horseshoe-shaped, naked. Filaments 4-5 mm, basally much enlarged but free; anthers purple, ellipsoid, 1-1.5 mm. Style 2.5-3.5 mm, slender; stigma lobes capitate. Capsules ovoid, 8-10 mm. Seeds pale yellow, ellipsoid; seed coat smooth.
  • Flower, Fruit : July-October
  • Distribution :
    • Uttarakhand : Dehradun district
    • Sikkim : North Sikkim (Mangan) district,West Sikkim (Geyzing) district
    • West Bengal : Darjeeling district
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : India, East Himalaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya
  • Literature :
    • Nair, N. G (1977).Flora of Bashahr Himalayas. International Bioscience Publishers: 185
    • Uniyal B.P., Sharma J.R., Choudhery U., Singh D.K. (2007). Flowering Plants of Uttarakhand: A Checklist. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh: 178
    • GRIERSON A.J.C. & LONG D.G. (1983). FLORA OF BHUTAN INCLUDING A RECORD OF PLANTS FROM SIKKIM Vol. 2: Part 2. ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, EDINBURGH: 624
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Swertia paniculata. Downloaded on 2 December 2024.

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

Creative Commons License
India Flora Online by Herbarium JCB is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.