Authors: L.  

Botanical Description

More or less clump-forming, 30-60cm tall. Stems erect, four-angled. Lower leaves in pairs, dense, ovate to elliptic, narrowed to a winged petiole, 5-10cm in length, sometimes more or less. Flowers five-petalled, 1.2-3cm across, pale blue to slate-blue or brownish-violet, rarely yellow-green, summer to autumn. Mountains of Europe, in moist to boggy grassland up to 2500m. A variable species, three variants having been described as species: S. alpestris is somewhat shorter with deep violet flowers; S. obtusa has alternate stem leaves and blunt-tipped dark violet petals (in S.perennis the petals are pointed). S. punctata is the variant with greenish-yellow flowers.