Herbs annual, biennial, or perennial. Rootstock with a fibrous primary root and secondary rootlets, with a stout ± fleshy or woody taproot, or with several linear-cylindric roots from a collar. Stems ascending to erect, striate or angled, in perennial species sometimes both flowering and vegetative. Leaves opposite, rarely whorled, sometimes forming a basal rosette. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, 1 to few-flowered cymes, sometimes in terminal clusters and/or axillary whorls. Flowers (4 or) 5- (or 6-8)-merous. Calyx lobes filiform to ovate, with a prominent midvein. Corolla tubular, salverform, funnelform, obconic, or urceolate, very rarely rotate; tube usually much longer than lobes; plicae between lobes. Stamens inserted on corolla tube; filaments basally ± winged; anthers free or rarely contiguous. Glands 5-10 at ovary base. Pistil sessile or on a long gynophore. Style usually short, linear, less often long and filiform; stigma lobes free or connate, recurved, usually oblong to linear, rarely expanded and rounded. Capsule cylindric to ellipsoid and wingless or narrowly obovoid to obovoid (narrowly ellipsoid in G. winchuanensis) and winged, many seeded. Seeds wingless or winged; seed coat minutely reticulate, rugose, simply areolate, or with complex spongy areolation.

About 360 species: NW Africa (Morocco), America, Asia, E Australia, Europe; 248 species in China.

Gentiana pseudazurea Grubov, G. subpolytrichoides Grubov, and G. tischkovii Grubov have been described from Xizang by Grubov (J. Jap. Bot. 69: 18-21. 1994). However, specimens have not been seen by the authors, and the species are not included in this treatment.