Gentiana maeulchanensis Franch.

Annuals 2-10 cm tall. Stems erect, fastigiate branched from base, with short weak branches, densely purple papillate. Basal leaves withered at anthesis; petiole 1-2 mm; leaf blade ovate, 0.7-2.5 × 0.5-1.4 cm, margin cartilaginous and often ciliolate, apex acute; veins 1-3, slender. Stem leaves 4-6 pairs, widely spaced; petiole tube 1-1.5 mm; leaf blade spatulate to obovate, 4-8 × 1.5-5 mm, much shorter than internodes, margin ciliolate, apex rounded and mucronate, midvein slender. Flowers few to many, subsessile. Calyx tubular, 6-6.5 mm; lobes narrowly lanceolate, 3-3.5 mm, as long as tube, equal, margin membranous, apex acute and apiculate, midvein slender. Corolla pale blue, with blue-gray stripes, tubular, 1-1.2 cm; lobes ovate, 1.5-2 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse and mucronate; plicae ovate, 1-1.5 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse. Stamens inserted at middle of corolla tube, unequal, 2 longer and 2.5-3 mm, 3 shorter and 1.5-2 mm; filaments linear-subulate; anthers ellipsoid, 0.7-1 mm. Style 1.5-2 mm; stigma lobes linear. Capsules narrowly obovoid to obovoid, 3-4 mm; gynophore to 8 mm. Seeds light brown, ellipsoid, 0.8-1 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr-Jul.

S Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, N Myanmar, Sikkim].

Grassland slopes, dry hillsides; 2500-3600 m.