• Family : Gentianaceae
  (Gentian Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BHUIN NEEM FAMILY
• Family (as per The APG System III) : Gentianaceae
• Basionym : Gentiana chirayita Roxb.
• Synonym(s) : Agathotes chirayita (Roxb.) D.Don ex G.Don; Ericoila chirayita (Roxb.) Bercht. & J.Presl; Eyrythalia floribunda G.Don; Gentiana floribunda D.Don; Henricea pharmacearcha Lem.; Ophelia chirayita (Roxb.) Griseb.; Swertia chirata Buch.-Ham. ex Wall.; Swertia tongluensis Burkill
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Swertia chirayita (Roxb.) H.Karst.
• Common name : Chirayita
• Vernacular name : Chirayata, Charaita, Chirata (Hindi); Charayatah, Chirayita (Marathi); Nilavembu, Shirattakuchi, Anariyatittam (Tamil); Kiriyatta, Kiriyattu, Nilaveppa, Uttarakiriyattu (Malayalam); Nelavemu (Telugu); Nelabevu (Kannada); Chiraita shireen (Urdu); Anaryatikta, Ardhatikta, Bhunimba, Chiratika (Sanskrit)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : High altitudesin the sub-temperate regions and the slopes of moist shady places, on steep banks; 1500 - 2740 m. altitude
• Comments / notes : Used in several traditional and indigenous systems of medicines, such asAyurveda, Unani, and Siddha
• Key identification features : Robust, terete, branched herbs. Leaves broadly lanceolate. Flowers green-yellow, tinged with purple
• Flower, Fruit : August-November
• Distribution :
  • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • West Bengal : Darjeeling district
  • Himachal Pradesh : Shimla district
• Native : Bhutan, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, West Himalaya
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Himalaya to Assam
• Literature : Uniyal B.P., Sharma J.R., Choudhery U., Singh D.K. (2007). Flowering Plants of Uttarakhand: A Checklist. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh: 178; GRIERSON A.J.C. & LONG D.G. (1983). FLORA OF BHUTAN INCLUDING A RECORD OF PLANTS FROM SIKKIM Vol. 2: Part 2. ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, EDINBURGH: 626; Chowdhery, H. J. & Wadhwa, B. H (1984). Flora of Himachal Pradesh Vol. 2. Published BSI: 478; Nair, N. G (1977).Flora of Bashahr Himalayas. International Bioscience Publishers:188
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Navendu Page, Deepak Kumar (2020). Pan India Bouquets. http://flora-peninsula-indica.ces.iisc.ac.in/pan/plants.php?name=Swertia chirayita. Downloaded on 11 December 2023.

Field Image(s)