Herbs, perennial, erect, glaucous, 0.5-1 m tall from a stout caudex. Stems ca. 5 mm in diam., hollow, ridged, branched, leafy. Lower cauline leaves long petiolate, upper ones shortly petiolate to nearly sessile; blade pale abaxially, green adaxially, bi-(tri-)pinnate with 2(or 3) pairs of shortly stalked primary pinnae; ultimate leaflets sessile, ovate, slightly to deeply lobed, with sharply serrate margin; terminal leaflet large, 6-14 cm, deeply 3(-5)-divided with lobes 1.5-4 cm wide; lateral leaflets smaller. Raceme simple, 5-10 cm, 15-25-flowered, dense; bracts lanceolate, small, ca. 6 × 2 mm, margin entire or apex ± lobate. Pedicel 3-5 mm. Flowers blood-red. Sepals narrowly lanceolate, ca. 4 × 1 mm, entire. Outer petals acute-acuminate, without crest; upper petal 9-11 mm including saccate spur ca. 2 mm; nectary ca. 1 mm, apex slightly thickened; lower petal straight, 7-8 mm; inner petals ca. 7 mm, narrowly crested, claw slightly shorter than limb. Capsule linear, 2-4 cm, often somewhat contorted, subtorulose, 10-18-seeded. Seeds ?pitted, caruncle absent. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.