Lance-leaved or white sabatia

Swertia difformis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 226. 1753; Sabatia lanceolata Torrey & A. Gray

Herbs perennial, not stolon­iferous. Stems 1–several, clus­tered, proximally terete, distally sometimes ± 4-angled but not winged, 2.5–10.5 dm, branching opposite throughout. Leaves all cauline at flowering time; blade linear-lanceolate to narrowly or occasionally widely elliptic-ovate, 1–4(–6) cm × 3–14(–22) mm. Inflorescences corymboid dichasia of compact cymules; pedicels 1–8(–15) mm. Flowers 5(or 6)-merous; calyx tube shallowly campanulate, 1–2(–3) mm, midveins somewhat more prominent than commissural veins, low-ridged, commissural veins scarcely ridged, lobes narrowly lanceolate to filiform, (2–)4–9(–14) mm; corolla white throughout (sometimes drying cream to yellow), tube 2.5–6 mm, lobes oblanceolate, (5–)7–21 × 2.5–8 mm, apex rounded; anthers recurving. 2n = 36.

Flowering late spring–summer. Wet, open pine woods, savannas, bogs, clearings, ditches; 0–100 m; Ala., Del., Fla., Ga., N.J., N.C., S.C., Va.

A historical record of Sabatia difformis from Maryland is documented, but no recent collections or reports are known from that state. Old reports of S. lanceolata from New York and Tennessee, for which no documentation was found in studies for this flora, are believed to be erroneous, probably based on mis­identifications or misapplications of the name.

The name Sabatia paniculata (Michaux) Pursh is typ­ified by a specimen of S. difformis but has often been misapplied to S. quadrangula (R. L. Wilbur 1955).