Japanese name: センブリ（千振） Scientific name:Swertia japonica var. japonica
[Overview]
An annual or biennial 5–20 cm tall, found in sunny places in hills and fields.
The stem is tinged with purple.
There are basal leaves and stem leaves; a few basal leaves remain even at flowering time.
The stem leaves are simple and opposite, linear, 1.5–4 cm long and 0.2–0.5 cm wide.
It bears panicles.
The flowers are white with purple veins, and the corolla is deeply 5-lobed.
The fruit is a capsule.
[Uses]
The whole plant is strongly bitter and is used medicinally.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers soil that is well drained and moisture-retentive.
Place it in full sun from autumn to spring, but in midsummer it is best moved to partial shade to prevent the soil from drying out.
Take care that it does not run short of water; from spring to autumn water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and in winter water so that the soil does not dry out completely.
If base fertilizer is applied, no further fertilizing is particularly necessary.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
[Notes]
The Japanese name derives from the fact that its bitterness does not disappear even after a thousand infusions.
