Herbs, perennial, glaucous, 15-30 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots cylindric to ellipsoid, 7-18 × 4-6 mm, abruptly narrowed to usually simple stalk 8-30 mm. Stems erect, 1-5, simple or rarely with late branch from uppermost leaf, with (2 or)3(or 4) leaves. Radical leaves few; petiole 7-10 cm; blade (biternate) 3-4 × 3-5 cm, with 5-8 closely set lanceolate leaflets. Cauline leaves subsessile to sessile; blade gray-glaucous abaxially, glaucous adaxially, 2.5-7 × 2.5-5 cm (or upper leaves smaller), abaxially with prominent parallel veins, imparipinnate, lower leaves with (2 or)3(or 4) pairs of leaflets, upper leaves with 1 or 2 pairs of linear-lanceolate subobtuse leaflets, 2-3.5 cm × 1-3 mm. Raceme 3-6 cm, 10-17-flowered, lax below, denser above; bracts narrowly lanceolate to linear, 6-16 mm, entire. Pedicel ca. 5 mm in flower, sharply recurved and ca. 10 mm in fruit. Sepals white, orbicular, ca. 1 mm, margin finely dentate. Corolla pale purplish blue, with distinct darker veins, keels of outer petals reddish purple, inner petals pale at tip, but with subapical purplish marks, crest 1-2 mm wide; upper petal 19-21 mm, with rhombic shortly acuminate limb, crest long decurrent on spur, attenuate at apex and just reaching tip, or obtuse, slightly overtopping apex; spur slightly downcurved at apex, cylindric, 9-11 mm; nectary 2/5-1/2 as long as spur; lower petal straight, 10-12 mm, narrow at base, gradually expanding to rhombic subobtuse limb, crest short; inner petals ca. 9 mm. Stigma dark, square; marginal papillae: median 2 distinct, lateral broad, indistinct; geminate papillae lateral and in basal corners; basal lobes small. Fruit not seen. Fl. Jun-Aug.
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