帚枝龙胆 zhou zhi long dan

Gentiana fastigiata Franchet (1884), not Bentham (1844).

Annuals 2.5-3.5 cm tall. Stems erect, with branches crowded into a dense apical head, densely purple papillate. Leaves long petiolate; leaf blade obovate-spatulate to orbicular-spatulate, base narrowed, margin cartilaginous and ciliolate, apex rounded and sometimes with a short recurved mucronate tip, midvein prominent. Basal leaves withered at anthesis; petiole shorter than blade; leaf blade 7-9 × 4-5 mm. Stem leaves with petiole longer than blade; leaf blade 5-10 × 1.5-5.5 mm. Flowers many, subsessile. Calyx obconic, 3.5-5 mm; lobes recurved, 1-1.5 mm, equal, ovate-elliptic to ovate, base narrowed, margin cartilaginous and smooth or ciliolate, apex obtuse and cuspidate, midvein prominent. Corolla pale blue, outside tinged yellow-green, tubular, 6-7 mm; lobes ovate, 1-1.5 mm, margin entire or crenulate, apex obtuse; plicae ovate, 0.8-1 mm, margin entire or erose, apex obtuse. Stamens inserted at basal part of corolla tube, equal; filaments 2.5-3.5 mm; anthers ellipsoid, 0.4-0.6 mm. Style 1.5-2 mm; stigma lobes linear. Capsules narrowly obovoid to obovoid, 3-4 mm; gynophore to 6 mm, stout. Seeds light brown, ellipsoid, 0.9-1.1 mm. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

* Grassland slopes, scrub, forests; 2200-3500 m. SE Xizang, NW Yunnan.