Herbs, perennial, glabrous or rarely with minute vesicular hairs. Tuber rounded, 1-1.5 cm. Stems erect or basally ascending, 8-21(-28) cm, simple or with a late branch from prophyll, above with 2 (rarely 3) leaves. Leaves green, biternate to triternate, glabrous, sometimes veins and leaf margin papillose-scabrid; leaflets highly variable, entire to deeply divided; ultimate segments linear, lanceolate, elliptic, or ovate, entire, rarely serrate or undulate. Raceme 5-12(-15)-flowered; bracts broadly lanceolate, ovate, or obovate, entire or usually pectinately or digitately dentate or divided. Pedicel straight, 5-14 mm, slender. Sepals minute. Flowers light blue or indigo, rarely purple or white; inner petals nearly white. Upper petal 20-25 mm, petal margin ± upcurved; spur 8-12 mm; nectary extended through ca. 1/3 of spur, apex shortly acute; lower petal straight or shallowly saccate, with short claw, limb clearly set off, broadest at base, 6-10 mm wide, apex emarginate without a mucro in sinus; inner petals 8-13 mm. Stigma nearly square, with 4-6 apical papillae and lateral and basal geminate papillae. Capsule often streaked reddish brown, linear-oblong, (15-)20-25(-30) × 2.5-3 mm, with a distinct margin. Seeds in 1 row, ca. 2 mm in diam., smooth; caruncle obovate. Fl. and fr. Mar-May.
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