Herbs, perennial, 20-50 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots spindle-shaped to almost round, 5-15 × 3-4 mm, sessile. Stems few, erect, slender, upper 1/2 with 2 or 3 leaves, simple or rarely branched, but often with an axillary raceme in upper leaf. Radical leaves: petiole 5-15 cm; blade ternate, pinnate, or biternate, thin; pinnae elliptic to lanceolate, 10-30 × 4-13 mm. Cauline leaves sessile; blade gray-glaucous abaxially, green-glaucous adaxially, ovate, 2-10 × 1.5-8 cm, imparipinnate; pinnae 2-4 pairs, broadly to very narrowly lanceolate, (1-)2-4(-9) cm × (1-)3-5(-10) mm, with 3 obvious parallel veins. Raceme spikelike, 8-25-flowered, 3-9 cm (to 15 cm and 40-flowered in garden conditions), at fruiting to 20 cm; bracts narrowly lanceolate to linear, 5-7(-20) mm, entire or with a few narrow teeth or laciniae. Pedicel 4-6(-10) mm, slender, soon arcuate, recurved in fruit. Flowers after opening downcurved. Sepals white, 0.5-1.5 × 1-1.5 mm, dentate. Corolla lavender to blue, often with pinkish tinge, veins distinct, fragrant; upper petal 11-14 mm, limb rhombic, abaxial crest from petal apex extended to spur end, ca. 2 mm wide, undulate to dentate; spur conical-obtuse, 5-7 mm, thick; nectary ca. 1/2 as long as spur; lower petal rhombic, ca. 9 mm, crest short; inner petals 7-8 mm. Stigma square; marginal papillae: median 2 distinct, lateral broad, indistinct; geminate papillae lateral and in basal corners. Fruit oblong, 5-10 × 2-2.5 mm, 2-4-seeded; style ca. 3 mm. Seeds 1.8-2 mm, smooth; caruncle small. Fl. Jul-Sep.
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