Gentiana subtilis Harry Smith, Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. 63: 103. 1926.

Annuals 2-4.5 cm tall. Stems prostrate to ascending, weak, branched from base, glabrous. Basal leaves withered at anthesis; petiole 1-1.2 mm; leaf blade spatulate, 2.5-6 × 1-2 mm, glabrous, margin cartilaginous, apex acute, veins 1-3. Stem leaves widely spaced, recurved; petiole 0.5-1 mm, entirely connate; leaf blade spatulate to elliptic 1-2.2 × 0.6-1 mm, shorter than internodes, apex obtuse, midvein indistinct. Flowers few to many. Pedicel 0.5-1 mm, surrounded by upper leaves, glabrous. Calyx campanulate, 3-3.5 mm; lobes spreading to recurved, lanceolate to elliptic, 1.2-1.5 mm, apex acute and apiculate, midvein indistinct. Corolla white, with (4 or) 5 large blackish spots in throat, tubular, 4-5 mm; lobes ovate, 0.4-0.6 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; plicae ovate, 0.3-0.5 mm, margin entire, apex acute. Stamens inserted at basal part of corolla tube, equal; filaments 0.7-1 mm; anthers ellipsoid, 0.3-0.4 mm. Style 0.3-0.4 mm; stigma lobes ellipsoid. Capsules narrowly obovoid, 2-3 mm; gynophore 3-5 mm. Seeds brown, ellipsoid, 0.8-1 mm.

Gentiana pluviarum subsp. pluviarum occurs in NW India, Nepal, and Sikkim and has linear leaves and calyx lobes.

* Grassland slopes; 3700-4200 m. NW Yunnan