I Swear ta ya! One heck of a genus!

 

Swertia bimaculata

There weren't as many flowers blooming in September in Central China--we were in forest where trees and shrubs reigned supreme. Don't get me wrong--we saw dozens, probably hundreds of plants in bloom--but nothing to compare with Yunnan or Tibet in June and July a few years ago. One genus that delighted me, one with which I've had a bit of a destiny (as you will see) was Swertia.

I got a twofer with this shot: what a strange beetle that was! I wonder if it's a common pollinator. I love the lurid, dotted flower on this species--which we saw again and again on several mountain ranges in Central China. I would love to grow it!

The plants can grow almost a meter tall-- I didn't look carefully to see if it was perennial or monocarpic.

Swertia sp. ign. at Shennongjia National Park

Here is yet anotber Swertia--an undetermined species...there are a lot of these in China!

Lomatogonium bellum

Okay, I admit it's not QUITE Swertia--but close. I have often found Swertia perennis in the vicinity of Lomatogonium rotatum in Colorado--More on that later perhaps...they share a resemblance (not to mention overlapping much of their mutual range). This occurred at the highest point of our sojourn at Shennongjia National Park--a fantastic day of our great trip. And this taxon has a more than passing resemblance to yet another Gentianaceous cousin, Gentianella cerastioides.

They are not always so petite!

 Early in my career curating the Rock Alpine Garden at Denver Botanic gardens we grew Swertia kingii from an Index Seminum: it was magnificent! It was also monocarpic. Of course we've also grown Frasera--which now has been segregated into another genus. I don't agree with this...but let's not dip our toes in THAT taxonomic cauldron! By the way, there are only FOUR records of this Swertia on I-Naturalist (one of them being mine). Each is vast distances from the next--it is obvious that China is ridiculously underrepresented on that App. Compare it to the countless records for Gentianella cerastoides in Ecuador. 

Swertia perennis

I have photographed this many times, but unfortunately that was in the pre-digital era. I'm hoping Al Schneider won't object if I share share his image*. This is of course the commonest member of the genus, growing over a vast swath of Eurasia and North America.

It's well worth spending a few minutes scrolling through I-Naturalist and seeing what an amazing and varied group this is--even WITHOUT Frasera.  I Swear ta ya!

*Here's Al's website: Southwest Colorado Wildflowers