Swertia perennis

[Catwheazle]

Looking for seeds (or plantlets) of Swertia perennis.
(Seeds naturally only in the autumn, when they are ripe)
Is there a nursery (or private) who sells some?
Any suggestions where to get?

Thanks
Bernd

[Giles]

Bernd,
Jelitto have some for sale.

[Catwheazle]

Thx 

[Catwheazle]

Jelitto has a minimum order value of 25.- € :-(

Swertia is a perennial which is said to be flowering. I wonder when the seed is ripe. ... and whether it is durable, or only fresh seeds germinates well.
I will go back to the search when fresh seeds are available (as long as I know when the ripe is)
Some traders had even plants in the assortment, but they are currently not available.

[barnclos]

I ordered seed from Jellito two years ago, but none germinated. This was despite trying a variety of germination strategies:
- sown in autumn and left over winter
- alternating 2 months warm, 2 months cold
- various combinations of cool, warm, light, dark

Has anyone any managed to germinate Swertia perennial?

[Gabriela]

Hi Bernd and Keith,
I was away and didn't see this in July.
Not to self-advertise but I also have Swertia perennis in the shop. The seeds are from last year (wild collected) but they should still be fine. I sown in late fall/outdoors and they germinated in late spring.

Some Gentianaceae will germinate in the second year even when they are fresh, depending on provenience. Also, mechanically cleaning can damage fine seeds (like Swertia has).
A quick test with GA3 1000 ppm will make most Gents to germinate to see if they are viable; but I run out of it .
Anyway Bernd, if you want to give them a try pm me with your address

[barnclos]

Dear Gabriela,
Thanks for the reassurance that it's possible to get them to germinate. Your method of sowing in autumn for spring germination was the one which I expected to work - the others were vain attempts to hurry along nature - but as I said, no luck.
I have found them growing not too far from where I live, so will go seed hunting in the next few days. If that fails then I shall make an order with you. I made a bog garden last year, and it has a Swertia perennis shaped hole waiting to be filled.

Best regards

Keith

[barnclos]

I decided to strike while the iron was hot, and went seed hunting yesterday. Just as well that I did, as a lot of seed heads were already emptied. I did manage to get what looks, to my untrained eye, like healthy seed.


Fingers-crossed until next spring.

[Gabriela]

I decided to strike while the iron was hot, and went seed hunting yesterday. Just as well that I did, as a lot of seed heads were already emptied. I did manage to get what looks, to my untrained eye, like healthy seed.
Fingers-crossed until next spring.

Seeds are looking good Keith, but that's all one can say for now.
Again, all that S. perennis needs is cold/moist stratification for 3 months (not something that I discovered). The germination happens relatively late in the spring/early summer, which may be a survival strategy to avoid small seedlings being destroyed in early spring floods, which is seen in other bog/fens/wetland growing species.

Of course that in case of repeated trials with no germination, we can start thinking about other factors like - how small is the population you coll. seeds from? and the inbreeding that can affect the germination.

[barnclos]

There's an interesting article - if you're into that kind of thing - about genetic diversity of Swertia perennis in Switzerland (http://m.amjbot.org/content/89/5/801.full.pdfby).
I collected my seed at the opposite side of the country to the areas sampled in the study (extreme left of figure 1 in the above article).
The bog where I found my seed is relatively small (~0.2 hectares) and surrounded by alpine pastures which, according to the article, are both problematic.
We shall see what we shall see.

[Gabriela]

There's an interesting article - if you're into that kind of thing - about genetic diversity of Swertia perennis in Switzerland (http://m.amjbot.org/content/89/5/801.full.pdfby).
I collected my seed at the opposite side of the country to the areas sampled in the study (extreme left of figure 1 in the above article).
The bog where I found my seed is relatively small (~0.2 hectares) and surrounded by alpine pastures which, according to the article, are both problematic.
We shall see what we shall see.

Thanks Keith; interesting, I remember reading something similar related to Phyteuma spicatum. Loss of habitat/fragmentation is surely to became an increasing problem for many other species, everywhere. Protection and conservation on small size populations/areas may not always give the expected results.