Hypericum bellum subsp. latisepalum N. Robson, Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Bot. 12: 274. 1985.

Shrubs, to 1.5 m tall, bushy; branches erect. Stems 4-angled and slightly ancipitous when young, very soon terete; internodes 1.5-6(-9) cm, shorter than to exceeding leaves. Leaves with petiole 1.5-3 mm; blade lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate to ± broadly ovate or triangular-ovate (l:w = 1.8-2.5), (3-)3.7-6.7(-8.7) × (1.3-)1.6-4.6 cm, thickly papery, abaxially paler or glaucous; laminar glands dots and short streaks; abaxial glands absent; main lateral veins 3- or 4-paired, tertiary reticulation lax or not visible; base cuneate to rounded, margin plane, apex acute (when young) or obtuse to rounded. Inflorescence 1-14-flowered, from apical node, nearly flat-topped, rarely with flowering branches from lower nodes; bracts narrowly elliptic or leaflike, persistent. Pedicels 3-14 mm (to 3 cm in fruit). Flowers 4-6 cm in diam., cupped; buds broadly ovoid, apex acute to obtuse. Sepals erect, subequal, ovate to broadly elliptic, 0.8-1.3 cm × (5-)6-8 mm, laminar glands lines, margin entire, apex obtuse or apiculate-obtuse to rounded. Petals golden yellow, broadly obovate, 2.3-3.7 × 1.8-3 cm, ca. 3 × as long as sepals, eglandular, margin entire, apiculus rounded. Stamen fascicles each with 45-55 stamens, longest (1-)1.4-2.1 cm, (0.5-)0.6-0.7 × as long as petals. Ovary broadly ovoid, 7-8 × 6-7 mm; styles (5-)6-7 mm, 0.75-1(-1.1) × as long as ovary, free, suberect, outcurved near apex. Capsule broadly ovoid, 1.2-1.5 × 1-1.5 cm. Seeds dark reddish brown, ca. 1.2 mm, carinate or nearly not; testa scalariform-reticulate. Fl. Jun-Oct, fr. (?Aug-)Sep-Nov.

Hypericum latisepalum is closely related (?ancestral) to H. bellum but is morphologically distinct. It has a more southerly distribution, mainly S of the Himalayan range except for its incursion into Xizang. Some populations approach the northern form of H. beanii closely in morphology but can be distinguished by the ovoid rather than pyramidal-ovoid ovary and the more deeply cupped flowers.

Open forests, forest edges, thickets, grassy slopes; 2500-2900(-3700) m. SE Xizang (Zayü), NW and W Yunnan [NE India, N Myanmar].