Bigleaf Gentian

Perennials 30-60 cm tall. Roots to 30 × 2 cm. Stems ascending to erect, stout, simple, glabrous. Basal leaves petiole 3-5 cm, membranous; leaf blade elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic-ovate, 6-28 × 2.5-6 cm, base narrowed, margin scabrous, apex acuminate, veins 5-7. Stem leaves 3-5 pairs; petiole to 4 cm, membranous; leaf blade elliptic-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 4.5-15 × 1.2-3.5 cm, base obtuse, margin scabrous, apex acuminate, veins 3-5. Inflorescences crowded into terminal clusters, many flowered, sometimes also in few-flowered axillary whorls; axillary whorls sessile, rarely on pedunclelike branches. Flowers sessile. Calyx tube spathelike, membranous, split on 1 side; lobes 4 or 5, dentiform, 0.5-1 mm. Corolla blue-purple, with pale yellow base, tubular or urceolate; lobes ovate, 3-4.5 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse to subrounded; plicae triangular, 1-1.5 mm, margin entire, apex acute. Stamens inserted just below middle of corolla tube; filaments 5-7 mm; anthers narrowly ellipsoid, 2-2.5 mm. Style 1.5-2 mm; stigma lobes oblong. Capsules ovoid-ellipsoid, 1.5-1.7 cm; gynophore short. Seeds light brown, ellipsoid, 1.2-1.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.

Hebei, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi [Kazakhstan, N Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)]

400-3700 m.

Gentiana macrophylla, the large leaf gentian, is called qin jiao(秦艽) in Chinese. Synonyms include G. straminea, G. crassiaulisor, and G. dahurica. It is found in China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia.