Swertia cordata (G.Don) Wall. ex C.B.Clarke

Swertia cordata (G.Don) Wall. ex C.B.Clarke View in CoL in J.D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 4: 123 (1883).

( Figure 2 View FIGURE 2 & 3 View FIGURE 3 ).

Ophelia cordata G.Don in Gen. Hist. 4: 178 (1837).

Swertia patnitopiansis B.Singh, Phytotaxa 498: 273 (2021). syn. nov.

Habitat:— The species grows in temperate forests as component of herbaceous layer and also common in grasslands.

Phenology:— Vegetative phase occurs from May–July; flowering from August–September; fruiting from September–October.

Specimens examined:— INDIA. Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu Province, Udhampur District, Patnitop Hill proper, 33.08°N, 75.33°E, elev. 2202 m, 16 October 2014, Bikarma Singh 52757 ( S. patnitopiansis holotype: RRLH, GoogleMaps isotype RRLH) GoogleMaps ; Jammu Province, Udhampur District, 5 km upwards from Patnitop Hill , 33.102°N, 75.306°E, elev. 2092 m, 14 October 2016, Bikarma Singh 54298 (paratype: RRLH) GoogleMaps ; Jammu Province, Udhampur District, Nathatop Hill , 33.096°N, 75.246°E, elev. 2607 m, 16 November 2017, Bikarma Singh 54259 ( RRLH) GoogleMaps ; Kashmir Province, Anantnag District, Pahalgam , Aru , 18 August 2022, Tajamul Islam, Anzar Ahmad Khuroo & Irshad A. Nawchoo 36647 ( KASH) ; Kashmir Province, Anantnag District, Pahalgam , Overa , 16 August 2022, Tajamul Islam, Anzar Ahmad Khuroo & Irshad A. Nawchoo 36878 ( KASH) ; Kashmir Province, Bandipora District, Badwan , Guraiz , July 1994, Showket 37064, 37065 ( KASH) ; Kashmir Province, Bandipora District, Badwan , Guraiz , July 1994, Manzoor & Naqshi 37066 ( KASH) ; Kashmir Province, Anantnag District, Lidderwat valley , Pahalgam , 07 July 2008, Akhtar H. Malik 30315 ( KASH) .

Discussion:— Recently, several new species in genus Swertia have been described from India ( Singh 2021; Wani et al. 2022; Islam et al. 2022; Banoo et al. 2022).The genus is highly polymorphic and strongly paraphyletic in relation to the other genera ( Chassot et al. 2001), therefore, regional studies should be done carefully to describe a new species. For instance, recent studies described the S. angustifolia under different names based on material from different regions, such as Thailand ( S. dielsiana Hosseus ), China ( S. esquirolii H.Lév. ), and Myanmar ( S. kachinensis Lace , and S. lacei Craib ). Slight and unstable morphological variants were also recognized as distinct varieties, which are now treated as synonyms of S. angustifolia ( Husain et al. 2020) . Likewise, Kumar & Singh (2024) recognized a recently described species Lomatogonium madhmaheshwariansis (Singh et al. 2024) as a new synonym of Swertia alpina Bhattach. & Agrawal (1981: 36) .

Overall, our results revealed that the S. cordata and S. patnitopiansis closely resemble each other. Both grow in similar type of habitat and have similar habit ( Figure 1B View FIGURE 1 & 2A View FIGURE 2 ), subquadriangular stem ( Figure 2A&B View FIGURE 2 ), petiolate, elliptic basal leaves which wither at anthesis ( Figure 1B View FIGURE 1 ), sessile, broadly ovate cauline leaves with stem clasping, cordate base and acute apices ( Figure 1B View FIGURE 1 , 2A&B View FIGURE 2 ), pedicellate, pentamerous flowers, lanceolate sepals with acute apices, narrowly ovate-elliptic, white and dark purple tinged petals with acute apices, nectary 1 per corolla lobe, orbicular, up to 1 mm diameter, positioned near the base ( Figure 2A,B View FIGURE 2 , 3A,B&C View FIGURE 3 ), oblong anthers ( Figure 3D&E View FIGURE 3 ), ellipsoid carpel with short style ( Figure 3F View FIGURE 3 ), ellipsoid-narrowly ovoid, upto 5 mm long capsule ( Figure 3G View FIGURE 3 ), and polyhedral, upto 1 mm diam seeds with rough surface and irregularly winged at one end ( Figure 3H View FIGURE 3 ). Therefore, based on the findings of present study, S. patnitopiansis is recognized as a new synonym of S. cordata .