Herbs, perennial, 10-20 cm tall (to 40 cm in well-fed individuals in shade); stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots fasciculate, fusiform, 5-15 × 2-4 mm, sessile. Stems 1-3, erect to suberect, simple or rarely with late branches, with 1-3 leaves in upper 1/3. Radical leaves: petiole 2-7 cm; blade glaucous abaxially, green adaxially, orbicular to triangular, 10-15 × ca. 15 mm, ternate; leaflets shortly stalked, once to twice ± deeply cut into broadly obovate to lanceolate acute lobes. Cauline leaves subsessile; blade 10-20(-40) × 10-25(-40) mm, twice to 3 × deeply ternatisect into linear-lanceolate acute lobes, rarely lowermost more divided with stalked primary leaflets. Racemes 5-10(-20)-flowered, slightly elongating in fruit; bracts lanceolate, 4-12 mm, entire or lowermost sometimes to 16 and with a few narrow lateral lobes. Pedicel 5-14 mm, recurved in fruit. Sepals 0.2-0.5 mm. Corolla sky blue; keel of outer petals purplish; dorsal wing of inner petals white; outer petals broadly subacute, crest 1-2 mm wide; upper petal 14-19 mm, reaching or slightly overtopping apex, not or slightly decurrent on spur; spur straight or slightly downcurved at apex, cylindric, 7-10 mm, broad; nectary 4-6 mm; lower petal with broad rounded limb, shortly pointed; claw with conspicuous pouch at very base, like a small spur; inner petals 7-9 mm, dorsal crest slightly overtopping apex. Stigma broader than long, slightly emarginate; marginal papillae: median 2 distinct, lateral broad, indistinct; geminate papillae lateral (submarginal) and on well-developed basal lobes. Capsule narrowly fusiform, 10-13 × 2.5-3 mm, 5-9-seeded; style ca. 2 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.
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