Plant: perennial herb; STEMS 15-35 cm tall, erect or decumbent, densely puberulent or reduced to rows as continuations of leaf margins Leaves: linear-lanceolate to lance-ovate 2.5-4 cm long, 0.5-1 cm wide, puberulent on margins and lower surface of midrib INFLORESCENCE: spicate, the flowers few to many, usually at several nodes, sessile or short pedicellate in the axils of linear-lanceolate bracts that are shorter than the flower Flowers: blue, rarely white, 2.5-3.5 cm long, closely subtended by 2 bracteoles; calyx tube entire or cut along one side, the lobes 9-10 mm long or reduced and obsolete, the margins puberulent; corolla fusiform, remaining closed, the lobes 2.5-7 mm long, the plicae 1-2-lobed, acute to attenuate, 1.2-3 mm long Fruit: cylindric capsules, short-stipitate. SEEDS marginally winged Misc: Open drier mountain meadows and rocky areas; 2300-2900 m (7600-9500 ft); Aug-Oct REFERENCES: Mason, Charles T. 1998 Gentianaceae. J. Ariz. – Nev. Acad. Sci. 30(2): 84.