Pleurogyne brachyanthera C. B. Clarke in J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 4: 120. 1883; P. diffusa Maximowicz; P. thomsonii C. B. Clarke; Swertia carinthiaca Wulfen var. afghanica Burkill; S. clarkei Knoblauch; S. lloydioides Burkill.

Annuals 2-15 cm tall. Stems prostrate, angular, much branched from base; branches slender, internodes short at base, elongated apically, glabrous. Basal and lower stem leaves short petiolate; leaf blade spatulate to spatulate-oblong, 1-1.5 cm × 2.5-3 mm, base cuneate, margin scabrous, apex obtuse, veins abaxially indistinct. Middle to upper stem leaves sessile, elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic, 3-6 × 2-3 mm, much shorter than internodes, base and apex obtuse, margin scabrous, veins abaxially indistinct. Flowers terminal, solitary, (4 or) 5merous. Pedicel prostrate to spreading, 1.2-3.8(-6) cm, slender, angular, glabrous. Calyx tube 1.5-2 mm; lobes elliptic to narrowly ovate, 4.5-6 mm, unequal, base obtuse, margin scabrous, apex acute, midvein distinct. Corolla blue to blue-purple, 5-8 mm in diam., tube 2-3 mm; lobes broadly elliptic, 8-10 mm, apex acuminate. Nectaries close to each other, lamellate, margin lobed. Filaments 4-5.5 mm; anthers yellow, ovoid, 1-1.5 mm. Ovary ovoid-ellipsoid, 5-7 mm, apex acuminate. Stigma lobes decurrent to apical part of ovary. Capsules ellipsoid-conic. Seeds brown, nearly broadly cylindric to subglobose, 0.5-0.7 mm in diam.; seed coat scabrous. Fl. and fr. Aug-Sep.

Beside streams, bogs, meadows around lakes, alpine meadows; 3200-5300 m. SW Gansu, Qinghai, Xizang [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim].