高雄龍膽

Annual herbs. Stems usually branched, brownish purple to reddish purple, densely scabrous, 8-15 cm tall. Leaves aristate-acuminate at apices, slightly scabrous along margins; radical leaves lanceolate or ovate, 15-22 mm long, 6-7 mm wide; cauline-leaves shape almostly same to radical-leaves but smaller in size, 6-9 mm long, 2-3 mm wide; sheaths 1-2 mm long. Flowers pedicellate, solitary on terminal branches; pedicels 5-7 mm long; calyx-tube campanulate, about 5 mm long, with 5 slightly scabrous costae, 5-lobed, the lobes linear-triangular, 4-5 mm long, with obscurely erose costae, almostly entire along margins; corolla tubular-campanulate, light yellow, with brown spots in the middle part, 17-20 mm long, with 5 lobes; the lobes acutely ovate, 3-4 mm long, aristate-acuminate at apices, sinuses plicate with ovate-triangular appendages, appendages acute or cuspidate near apices; stamens 5, the anthers oblong, about 2 mm long, the filaments about 1 cm long, attached slightly above the lower-part of corolla-tube; ovary stipitate, lanceolate to narrow ovate, 7-8 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, stipe 2-3 mm long, style 2-3 mm long, the stigma bifurcate and spirally recurve at bloom. Capsules obovate, about 7 mm long, 4 mm wide, with long stipes about 1.5-2 cm long, 2-valved, dehiscent, the valves obscurely dentate near apices. Seeds ovoid, with minutely longitudinal reticulate-striae, 0.8 mm long, 0.4-0.5 mm wide.

TYPE: Taiwan. Kaohsiung Hsien: Kuaiku, C. H. Chen 1624, 16 Mar. 1996 (holotype: TNU; isotype: HAST, TNU).

KAOHSIUNG HSIEN: Kuanshanling, Chung 754 (PPI); Shiangyongshan, Huang 1115 (TNU); Kuaiku, elev. ca. 2580m, Wang 1086 (HAST); Tienchih, Chang s. n. Jul. 8, 1974 (PPI); same loc., elev. ca. 2200m, Wang 1155 (HAST); Tienchih to Yakou, elev. ca. 2250-2450m, C. H. Chen 1624 (TNU); same loc., Huang 8924 (TNU); Takuanshan, elev. ca. 2400-2500m, Huang 3611 (TAI); Chinching Bridge to Takuanshan entrance, elev. ca. 2400-2500m, Huang 3611 (TAI). TAITUNG HSIEN: Juglans natural reserve aera, Yang 30177 (PPI); Yakou to Hsiangyang, Y. F. Chen 13774 (HAST).

Distribution and habitat. Endemic to Taiwan, at almost from 2,400 to 3,200 m Alt. in the southern part of Central Mountain Range. Found on semishady to exposed rocky slope and opened grassland. Flowering and fruiting Jul-Nov.

Notes. The taxa is smilar to Gentiana. flavo-maculata Hayata but it differs from the latter in the bigger plant body, bigger corolla, longer calyx, and yellowish white to light yellow corolla. Compared with other Taiwanese species, the characters of G. kaohsiungensis are also similar to G. scabrida Hayata, but distinct from the latter in its bigger flowers, narrow lanceolate to narrow ovate calyx-lobes, and yellow corolla. In other words, the morphological characters of this taxon mediate between G. flavo-maculata Hayata and G. scabrida Hayata.