Herbs, perennial, glaucous, 10-26 cm tall, glabrous; stems and bracts often reddish. Rhizome short, densely clad with fleshy imbricate persistent petiolar bases in 2 rows. Stems 1 or 2, erect, simple or rarely branched above, with 1-3 leaves, mainly in upper 1/2. Rosette leaves: petiole 3-9 cm, with swollen base; blade very glaucous on both surfaces, rarely green adaxially, broadly ovate, 2-4 × 2-4 cm, (once or) twice ternate; primary leaflets shortly stalked, secondary sessile, deeply 2-7-divided into obovate obtuse lobes. Cauline leaves similar, sessile, or lower with petiole to 3 cm. Raceme 5-16-flowered, rather dense; bracts broadly obovate, 8-16 mm, entire or with a few small lateral lobes or teeth, lowermost bract often deeply palmatisect. Pedicel erect, straight, 15-30 mm. Sepals 1-2 × 1-2 mm, finely and sharply dentate. Corolla clear azure blue; upper petal 22-26 mm, broad, obtuse with distinct mucro ca. 1 mm; crest 1-2 mm wide, entire or dentate, attenuate to both ends, usually short, sometimes decurrent on spur; spur cylindric, short and broad, 10-11(-13) mm, to rather narrow, almost straight to sigmoidally curved; nectary ca. 1/2 as long as spur; lower petal with long narrow claw abruptly widened to rounded conspicuously mucronate limb 8-9 mm wide, abaxially with short entire to dentate crest; inner petals 12-15 mm. Stigma square; marginal simple papillae: median 2 distinct, lateral diffuse; geminate papillae lateral (submarginal) and on well-developed basal lobes. Capsule linear, 25-33 × ca. 1.5 mm, 15-25-seeded; style ca. 3 mm. Seeds ca. 1.3 mm, smooth, with deeply lobed elaiosome. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.
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