Herbs, perennial, 25-40 cm tall, glabrous. Rhizome horizontal, columnar, to 7 cm, densely clad with fleshy scales and old petiolar bases, apically with leaf rosette. Stems from axils below rosette, 1 or 2, branched above, with 2-4 leaves. Rosette leaves: petiole 5-15(-25) cm; blade glaucous on both surfaces, ovate, 5-12 × 5-9 cm, biternate; primary leaflets long petiolulate; secondary shortly petiolulate, deeply once to twice ternatisect into broadly obovate to narrowly oblong lobes. Cauline leaves scattered, like radical leaves but smaller, upper ones with petiole 0.5-1 cm. Raceme becoming lax when flowers still in bud, 4-12 cm, 8-20-flowered, rachis thin; bracts narrowly oblanceolate to linear, 5-9 mm, entire; lowest bract sometimes larger and divided. Pedicel thin, 9-17 mm in flower, 13-23 mm in fruit. Sepals white, rounded, ca. 1 × 1 mm, finely dentate. Corolla gracefully nodding, pale blue to bluish purple, rarely white. Outer petals navicular, narrow, acute, without crest; upper petal 17-25 mm; spur tapering, straight or upturned at base, slightly downcurved at apex, 9-15 mm; nectary 1/2-2/3 as long as spur; inner petals 8-11 mm. Stigma square, slightly emarginate; marginal simple papillae: median 2 distinct, lateral indistinct; geminate papillae lateral (submarginal) and on well-developed basal lobes. Capsule pendent from spreading pedicel, often reddish, narrowly obovoid, 10-13 × 2.5-3 mm, 8-13-seeded, explosively dehiscent; style ca. 3.5 mm. Seeds in 2 rows, 1.3-1.5 mm, smooth; elaiosome strap-shaped. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jun-Aug.
Home