• Scientific Name: Gentiana heleonastes Harry Sm.
• Ref: Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1937:132. 1937
• Chinese Common Name: 针叶龙胆 zhēnyè lóngdǎn
• Family: Gentianaceae
• Genus: Gentiana
• Distribution: River banks, moist meadows, scrub meadows, bog meadows; 3200-4200 m. Qinghai, Sichuan.
• Photo: 07/16/2014, Nianbaoyuze, Qinghai

Annuals 5-15 cm tall. Stems ascending to erect, branched from base, glabrous. Basal leaves withered at anthesis; petiole tube 1-2 mm; leaf blade obovate to ovate-orbicular, 4.5-7 × 2.5-5 mm, margin cartilaginous, apex rounded and mucronate, veins 1-3. Stem leaves folded; leaf blade shorter than internodes, longer toward apex, margin narrowly membranous and smooth, apex sometimes recurved, midvein abaxially prominent. Lower stem leaves spatulate, 4-6 × 1.5-2 mm, apex rounded; middle to upper leaves needlelike, apex acuminate and apiculate. Flowers few. Pedicel 1.3-2 cm, exserted from uppermost leaves, glabrous. Calyx narrowly obconic, 7-9 mm; lobes linear-triangular, 2-3 mm, margin narrowly membranous and smooth, veins slender and distinct, apex acuminate and apiculate. Corolla outside blue-gray, inside white or pale blue-gray, tubular, 1.4-1.6 cm; lobes ovate to broadly ovate, 2.5-3.5 mm, margin erose to serrate, apex obtuse; plicae oblong, 1.5-2 mm, margin irregularly denticulate, apex obtuse to truncate. Stamens inserted at basal part of corolla tube, equal or unequal; filaments 2.5-3.5 mm; anthers ellipsoid, 0.8-1 mm. Style 1.5-2 mm; stigma lobes narrowly oblong. Capsules narrowly obovoid to obovoid, 6-7 mm; gynophore 4-10 mm, stout. Seeds light brown, narrowly ellipsoid, 1.3-1.6 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep. (Flora of China)

07/16/2014, Nianbaoyuze, Qinghai