Lomatogonium sect. Comastoma (Wettst.) Löve & Löve
Biennial-perennial, glabrous, erect herbs. Basal leaves in a rosette, cauline leaves opposite, loosely arranged. Inflorescence solitary, terminal. Flowers pedunculate, peduncle long, tetramerous, rarely pentamerous, bisexual, actinomorphic-zygomorphic, mostly campanulate-tubular. Calyx divided mostly up to the base, sometimes not forming a tube, not provided by an inner membrane. Corolla campanulate, sometimes tubular, variously coloured: blue, purple, violet, red, pink or white, plicae or subsidiary lobes of the corolla absent, throat fimbriate, fimbriae linear-lanceolate or filiform, entire, acute or obtuse, arising from a crown inserted near the corolla tube. Stamens corresponding to the number of and alternating with the petals. Anthers strictly versatile, with filaments running down approximately to the base of the tube. Nectaries present at the base of the corolla, two each on a petal lobe. Ovary superior, unilocular with numerous ovules and parietal placentation, sessile, stigmas 2, sessile or stipitate, capsule dehiscing septici-daily from apex. Seeds light to dark brown, ovoid or circular in shape, mostly smooth, rarely reticulate.
A genus of c. 25 species, distributed in the colder or alpine regions of Asia, Europe and America. Represented in Pakistan by 5 species.
Comastoma Toyokuni posseses fimbriate corolla throat, with sessile gynoecium and stigma. The fimbriae in the genus are fairly uniform and are arranged in a definate pattern. The genus is fairly close to Gentianella Moench (s.str.), but differs on the basis of arrangement of fimbriae, and the absrnce of gynophore. It is often regarded as congeneric with Gentianella Moench (s.l.).
