Herbs, perennial, 30-80 cm tall. Rootstock 5-9 × 1-1.2 cm, with few fibrous roots, apex with brown scales and leaf remnants, cross section brimstone-colored, bitter flavored. Stems 1 or few, naked below, leafy and sparingly branched in upper 1/3. Radical leaves few; petiole 10-20 cm, vaginate at base; blade triangular-ovate, bi-to tripinnate, or tetrapinnate; primary leaflets with petiolules to 25 mm; ultimate pinnules nearly sessile, obovate to orbicular, 10-15 × 5-10 mm, entire, mucronate. Cauline leaves like radical leaves, but smaller, shortly stalked, less divided and with whitish membranous rounded stipules. Racemes dense, 2-7-flowered; bracts narrowly lanceolate or subulate, lowest one sometimes leaflike. Pedicel 1-1.2 cm, slender. Sepals usually ovate, (3-)4-5 × (1.5-)3-4 mm, entire. Flowers amaranth, 2.4-3.7 cm. Upper petal acute, without crest; spur 16-29 mm, cylindric at base, but gradually narrowed toward apex; nectary slender, ultimately nearly extended to spur; lower petals ca. 1 cm, base with broad large sac; sac 4-5 mm wide; inner petals 8-11 mm, limb ca. as long as claw, with low dorsal crest. Stigma deltoid, with 7-10 papillae, apical 2 confluent. Capsule oblong, ca. 12 × 2-3 mm, 5-7-seeded. Seeds ca. 1.5 mm in diam. Fl. and fr. Apr-Jul.
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