Herbs, perennial, very glaucous, 8-12 cm above scree surface, fleshy; leaves and bracts with coarse 1-celled hairs abaxially and marginally; stems and radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots many, fascicled, tapering to both ends, 3-8 cm × 2-3 mm. Stems few, with thin underground leafless part 5-20 cm, and 2 or 3 leaves above (sometimes a very small leaf below inflorescence), simple or branched, or with an axillary inflorescence high up. Blade of radical leaves variable depending on covering of plant, ternate with stalked pinnate leaflets or oblong. Cauline leaves alternate or subopposite, nearly sessile (or stalked if originating in buried part of stem); blade of lower leaves oblong, 3-7 × 2-5 cm, fleshy, pinnate; primary leaflets entire or lower ones deeply 2-or 5-lobed; ultimate lobes broadly elliptic, (6-)10-15 × 5-10 mm, obtuse. Raceme capitate, 3-6 cm, 15-30-flowered; lower bracts broadly ovate, 10-17 × 5-10 mm, deeply 5-7-divided, segments often again divided, lobes narrow, acute to acuminate. Pedicel 6-15 mm, soon slightly bent at apex, in fruit 10-20 mm, still suberect in lower part but arcuately recurved at tip. Sepals 0.5-2.5 × 1-2 mm, irregularly dentate. Corolla very broad, long persistent, almost white, or pale pink or pale purple, rarely pale yellow, turning deeper purple after pollination, veins distinct or obscure; apical keels of outer and tips of inner petals dark purple; upper petal 22-26 mm, broad, narrowed to subobtuse apex, margin ± undulate; abaxial crest 2.5-3 mm wide, obtuse, overtopping apex, hardly decurrent on spur, entire to dentate; spur strongly downcurved, 8-9 mm, slightly tapering to obtuse apex; nectary 1/3-1/2 as long as spur; lower petal with very broad saccate claw; limb slightly reflexed, short, obtuse, broadly crested, margin undulate-dentate; inner petals 11-13 mm. Stigma green, with 6 marginal papillae (lateral sometimes partly confluent); geminate papillae lateral (submarginal) and on basal lobes. Capsule obovoid, 6-8 × ca. 3 mm, 6-9-seeded; style ca. 3.5 mm. Seeds 1.4-1.7 mm, smooth; caruncle lobed. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.
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