6512.000 Swertia L.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs. Stems 4-ridged. Leaves well-developed. Flowers 4-5-merous in lax few-many-flowered cymes, rarely solitary. Calyx 4-5-lobed, tube very short. Corolla 4-5-lobed with a very short tube, lobes with 1-2 basal glandular nectaries within. Stamens 4-5, anthers without glands (in ours). Ovary ellipsoid, 1-locular. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule septicidally 2-valved. Seeds numerous.

Worldwide: 50 species in northern temperate zones, Africa and Malesia

Zimbabwe: 4 taxa.

Swertia tetrandra

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
quartiniana A. Rich.E
tetrandra Hochst.EDescription, Image
usambarensis Engl. var. usambarensis E
welwitschii Engl.N,C,EDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Swertia:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Swertia
Flora of Malawi: Swertia
Flora of Mozambique: Swertia
Flora of Zambia: Swertia

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Swertia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Swertia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Swertia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Swertia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Swertia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Swertia
JSTOR Plant Science: Swertia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Swertia
Plants of the World Online: Swertia
Tropicos: Swertia
Wikipedia: Swertia

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Genus page: Swertia.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1100, retrieved 19 March 2024

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