Swertia franchetiana H. Smith

Annuals 15-40 cm tall. Roots yellow, stout, fibrous. Stems erect, 2-7 mm in diam., subquadrangular, narrowly winged on angles, branched. Basal leaves withered at anthesis, long petiolate; leaf blade spatulate, 1-1.5 cm, base narrowed, apex obtuse, midvein distinct. Stem leaves sessile, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-3.7 cm × 2-8 mm, base auriculate and subamplexicaul as well as decurrent into narrow wings on stem, apex acuminate; veins 1-3, prominent. Inflorescences many-flowered panicles formed by whole plant. Flowers 5merous. Pedicel erect, to 4 cm, stout, subquadrangular. Calyx tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes linear-lanceolate, 7-12 mm, apex acuminate, midvein distinct. Corolla pale blue, 1-1.2 cm in diam., gray, tube 1-1.5 mm; lobes lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 1-1.5 cm, apex acuminate and apiculate. Nectaries 2 per corolla lobe, radially elongated, with a narrow scale, and raised margin with many long fimbriae. Filaments 5-7 mm; anthers dark blue, linear, 2-2.5 mm. Style indistinct; stigma lobes capitate. Capsules ovoid-ellipsoid, 1.2-1.6 cm. Seeds pale yellow, subglobose, ca. 0.5 mm in diam.; seed coat reticulate. Fl. and fr. Aug-Nov.

S Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang.

* Beside streams, hillsides, scrub, forest margins; 2200-3600 m.

Swertia stricta Franchet (1900), not Collett & Hemsley (1890).