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Kindly identify this Gentiana species
Location: Paddar valley J&K
Altitude: 2000 meters asl
Date: 19th April 2012
Habit/habitat: Wild herb


Perhaps Gentiana aquatica. Please upload a close up of flower.


The photos not being fully in focus or the exposure satisfactory (it is often difficult to expose correctly white and yellow flowers on sunny days) make this especially hard.
Gentiana (and now related genera) is a difficult genus, as I have said previously.  Which Gentiana aquatica is suggested as an ID?  Stewart lists 4 under this name with 3 reduced to synonyms.  He had G.aquatica L. from N.Pakistan and Ladakh (not Kashmir) with G.humilis Stev., G.prostrata Boiss (non Haenke) as synoyms also cf. G.pseudoaquatica Kusnez. 
Dickore & Klimes in the most up-to-date check-list for Ladakh (2005) list none of these- only G.prostrata Haenke.
But the low elevation and spring flowering will eliminate some gentians from consideration.
At some stage, I would like to take a serious look at Gentianaceae of NW Himalaya but this is quite a challenge and have yet to find the time to focus properly on the family. SO many other genera belonging to other families also urgently need attention (indeed revision). So many families and genera are poorly known in the Himalaya.


Does not seem to match with images of Gentiana aquatica at

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