Veratrilla baillonii Franch.

Plants 30-45(-85) cm tall. Basal leaf petiole (2-)5-8 cm; leaf blade 5-14 × 1.2-2.5 cm. Stem leaves ovate-elliptic, 3.5-8 × 1.3-3.5 cm. Calyx lobes apex obtuse, veins 1-3. Corolla yellow-green, with purple veins, 6-7 mm, tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes oblong-spatulate, 4-5 mm, apex obtuse. Inflorescences of male plants a large crowded panicle. Calyx lobes linear-lanceolate, 2-2.5 mm. Stamens fertile; filaments 1.5-2 mm; anthers ellipsoid, 0.8-1 mm. Pistil aborted. Inflorescences of female plants lax, racemelike, few flowered. Calyx lobes ovate-lanceolate, 4-5 mm. Corolla lobes obtuse, with a purple gland patch often divided longitudinally into 2 separate patches. Stamens sterile, ca. 0.5 mm. Pistil 4-5 mm. Ovary ovoid. Style indistinct; stigma lobes suborbicular. Capsules ovoid, 6-7 mm. Seeds dark brown, subdiscoid, 1.7-2 mm; broadly winged; seed coat reticulate. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

Plants 15-30(-50) cm tall. Roots 10-12 × 2-3 cm. Basal leaf petiole 10-15 cm; leaf blade 7-10 × 2-2.5 cm. Stem leaves 3-6 pairs, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 4-5(-9) × to 3 cm. Inflorescences of male plants very crowded, 3-8 × 3-4 cm. Calyx lobes triangular-lanceolate, 1.5-2 mm, apex obtuse, veins 1-3. Corolla dirty white to green, with purple streaks and spots, tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes oblanceolate, 5-7 mm, each with 1 blue gland patch, apex obtuse. Stamens fertile; filaments 1.5-2 mm; anthers ellipsoid, 0.8-1 mm. Pistil abortive. Inflorescences of female plants lax, narrow, few flowered, 8-10 × ca. 2.5 cm in fruit. Calyx and corolla as in male inflorescence. Stamens sterile. Stigma lobes suborbicular. Capsules ovoid, 1-1.5 cm. Seeds dark brown, discoid, ca. 5 × 3-4 mm; seed coat with honeycomblike pits. Fl. and fr. Jul-Aug.

W Sichuan, SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [E India].

S Xizang [Bhutan, Sikkim].

Meadow slopes, scrub, alpine scrub meadows; 3200-4600 m.

Wet places; 4000-4300 m.

Swertia mekongensis I. B. Balfour & Forrest.

Swertia burkilliana W. W. Smith, J. Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 7: 78. 1911.