Gentiana falcata Turczaninow ex Karelin & Kirilov, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 15: 404. 1842; G. cordisepala Murbeck; G. hedinii Murbeck.

Annuals 4-25 cm tall. Stems ascending to erect, subquadrangular, branched from base. Leaves mostly basal; petiole to 2 cm; leaf blade oblong to oblong-spatulate, 0.5-1.5 cm × 3-6 mm, base cuneate, apex obtuse to rounded, midvein distinct. Stem leaves sessile, oblong, rarely ovate-oblong to ovate, 0.8-1.5 cm × 3-4(-6) mm, apex obtuse. Flowers terminal, solitary. Pedicel tinged purple, erect, 4-6(-12) cm, subquadrangular. Calyx 6-12 mm, tube saccate at base; lobes falcate-curved, unequal, usually ovate-lanceolate, rarely oblong, lanceolate, or broadly ovate, margin slightly undulate, apex acuminate, midvein distinct. Corolla blue, dark blue, or blue-purple, with blackish veins, salverform, (0.9-)1.2-2.5 cm × ca. 9 mm; lobes spatulate-oblong to oblong, 5-13 × to 7 mm, scales 2, fimbriae to 4 mm, apex rounded. Nectaries 10. Stamens inserted at middle of corolla tube; filaments 5-6 mm, base decurrent into wings of corolla tube; anthers yellow, ellipsoid, 1.5-2 mm. Style indistinct; stigma lobes suborbicular. Capsules narrowly ellipsoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, 8-11 mm. Seeds brown, subglobose, ca. 0.7 mm in diam.; seed coat smooth. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.

River banks, grassland slopes, scrub, alpine meadows, forests; 2100-5300 m. Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shanxi, NW Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang [India, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia (Siberia), Tajikistan].