Birth flower for November 22
Swertia
Meaning: good medicine tastes bitter
Its Japanese name, senburi, means a thousand shakes: you could swirl it in hot water a thousand times and it would still taste bitter. Together with geranium and fishwort it is counted among Japan's three great folk remedies, long taken for the stomach. Look closely and each white petal carries purple veins and a pair of fringed nectar glands at its base.