A variable plant with leaves in basal rosettes, shape variable, from lanceolate to obovate. Flowers solitary with a funnel-shaped calyx and a bell-shaped dark blue corolla about 5 cm long, spotted inside and with small appendages between the petal lobes.
Montane Europe
Under this name will be found several horticultural forms.
Other species and cultivars occasionally offered include: G. asclepiadea L. from Eurasia, an erect plant to about 50 cm tall with lanceolate 3-5-veined leaves and 1-3 dark blue flowers in the leaf axils towards the tip; G. sino-ornata Balf. f. from W China, which is a stoloniferous plant forming leaf rosettes and bearing dark blue flowers; G. lutea L. from Eurasia, which has large 5-7-veined leaves and yellow flowers about 2.5 cm long; and G. ×macaulayi hort. 'Kingfisher', a multicoloured hybrid.
Source: (2002). Gentianaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.