124 xcvii. GENTIANACE^. (C. B. Clarke.) [Swertia. 



tt Calyx distinctly gamosepalous. 



9. S. racexnosa. Watt. Cat. 4377; leaves subsessile elliptic-lanceolate 3- 

 nerved, filaments free linear slightly dilated below, style long cylindric, stigmas 

 short oblong. Ophelia racemosa, Griseb. Gentian. 319, and in DC. Prodr. ix. 

 127 ; Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xiv. 447. 



NEPAL ; Wallich. 



Stems 18 in., 4-lineolate. Leaves If by ^ in. Panicles many-fld., leafy ; pedicels 

 0- in., mostly short, fascicled, unequal. Calyx-tube ^ in., funnel-shaped ; lobes i- 

 in., lanceolate, very acute, almost keeled. Corolla-lobes 3-5 in., oblong, acute ; at 

 the very base of each, almost in the corolla-tube, is a pit covered by a scale, teeth of 

 its margin lanceolate-linear black not hairy. Filaments on the corolla-tube ; anthers 

 oblong, not hastate. Capsule ^ in. Seeds somewhat large, ellipsoid, smooth. On 

 Wallich's sheets, some S. Chirata is mixed with this, which seems to have troubled 

 D. Don as noticed by Grisebach. ' 



* Floiuers all 4^merous 

 t Species of North India. 



10. S. Chirata, Ham.; Wall Cat. 4372; cauline leaves subsessile ellip- 

 tic acute 5-nerred, corolla lurid-green-yellow near the base of each lobe 2 

 glandular depressions each terminated by long hairs. Gentiana Chirayita, 

 Roxb. ; Fleming in Asiat. Res. xi. 167. G. Chirayta, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii, 71. G. 

 Chirata, Wall. PL As. Rar. iii. 33, t. 252. ? G. floribunda, Don Prodr. 127. 

 Agathotes Chirata, D. Don in Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii. 552. Ophelia Chirata, 

 Griseb. Gentian. 320, and in DC. Prodr. ix. 127; Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. 

 xiv. 447 ; Berth. $ Trim. Med. PI. iii. t. 183. Ophelia sp., 17, 19, and 20, 

 Herb. Ind. Or. H.f., $ T. 



TEMPERATE HIMALAYA, alt. 4-10,000 ft. from Kashmir to Bhotan. KHASIA MTS., 

 alt. 4-5000 ft. ; frequent. 



Stem 2-5 feet, 4-lineolate or subterete. Leaves 2 by f in., the lower often much 

 larger sometimes petioled. Panicles large, leafy, many-fld. ; pedicels 0-f in., fascicled, 

 mostly short. Calyx-lobes in., lanceolate. Corolla-lobes in., ovate, acuminate, 

 more or less purple-nerved ; the glandular depressions are green, shallow, often sub- 

 marginal, rarely close together or subconfluent, with a fringe of long white or pink 

 hairs at the summit. Filaments linear, free ; anthers oblong. Style cylindric ; 

 stigmas oblong. Capsiile ^ in. and upwards, ovate, acute. Seeds ~ in., polyhedral, 

 smooth ; testa close, not (or microscopically) reticulated. D. Don (in Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xvii. 522) has reduced to S. Chirata his Gentiana floribunda. But there must 

 be some error, for he describes the corolla as 5-fid, tubular, blue, and both it and the 

 leaves as hairy. Ophelia, sp. 20, H. f. & T., is the Khasia plant which has strongly 

 3-nerved leaves attenuated at the base, and of which some examples have woody 

 short barren branches with terminal tufts of leaves, others annual erect flowering 

 stems. This species is so exceedingly near the two next, that the quotations of all 

 the older authors are uncertain ; Bentley and Trimcn's figure is the one to be relied 

 upon. While many of the other Ophelias are gregarious and could be collected in 

 great quantity, this occurs scattered (from Khasia to Kashmir); yet all the medicinal 

 Chiretta of the Bengal bazaars collected by Dr. Wise proved to be 8. Chirata true, 

 without any admixture of the closely allied species. 



*11. S. lurida, Royle ms. ; cauline leaves subsessile elliptic acute 5-nerved, 

 corolla lurid green-yellow with 2 glandular depressions without hairs near the 

 base of each lobe. Ophelia lurida, -D. Don in Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii. 527 ; 

 Griseb. in DC. Prodr. ix. 124. 0. lucida, G. Don Gen. Syst. iv. 179. 



N.W. HIMALAYA, Boyle, Falconer; Naini Tal, Col. Davidson. 

 Corolla-lobes i i n . Capsule in. Differs from S. Chirata in the smaller flowers 

 and capsules. 



