Gentiana cordata C. Marquand, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1931: 77. 1931.

Stems weakly twisted, twining, terete. Petiole 1-3(-4.5) cm; leaf blade ovate-lanceolate, ovate, or cordate, (1.5-)3.5-12 × (1-)2-5 cm, leathery, abaxially sometimes purple, base rounded to cordate, margin entire, apex acuminate and usually caudate; veins 3-5, indistinct. Inflorescences 1-flowered or cymes; bracts 1-4 pairs, leafy, lanceolate, 3-10 mm. Pedicel 0.5-1.5 cm. Calyx campanulate; tube (0.5-)1-1.3 cm, winged; lobes ascending or recurved only near tip, linear-lanceolate, 0.7-1.6 cm, apex acuminate. Corolla purple, campanulate, 3.5-4 cm; lobes ovate-triangular, 4-6 mm, apex acute; plicae broadly triangular, 1.5-2 mm, margin crenulate. Filaments linear-subulate, 1.5-1.8 cm; anthers ellipsoid, 1-2 mm. Disc 1-2 mm. Style linear, 1.5-2 cm. Berries dark purple, narrowly ellipsoid, 2-3 cm × 7-8 mm; gynophore less than 5 mm. Seeds dark purple, ellipsoid to ovoid, discoid, 2-2.5 mm, wingless. Fl. and fr. Aug-Dec.

Murata (J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo III, 14: 302. 1989) adopts more strict morphological criteria and gives a narrower distribution of Tripterospermum cordatum to include only Hubei and Sichuan. This difference may be due to problems in interpreting T. cordatum and the close relatives T. cordifolioides, T. lanceolatum, and T. pallidum.

* Forests, scrub, forest margins, river valleys; 700-3200 m. Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan