Herbs, perennial, 8-15 cm tall, glabrous; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Rhizome 0.5-1 cm; storage roots therefore not as densely clustered, pale, 3-8 cm × 1-1.5 mm, tapering distally. Bulb prominent, white, rounded, apical on rhizome, 0.5-1.1 × ca. 0.5 cm, of several pale fleshy ovate scales, outer becoming ?hard. Stems 1-4, erect or ascending, often reddish, simple, without leaves or with 1 leaf. Radical leaves few to several; petiole 3-13 cm; blade glaucous abaxially, (glossy) green adaxially, sometimes with small dark spots, suborbicular, 1-3 cm, slightly thick, ternate; leaflets petiolulate to sessile, slightly to deeply 2-or 3-divided; lobes obovate to oblanceolate, mucronulate. Cauline leaf absent or sessile, to 1 cm, deeply 3-5-digitate. Raceme 2-5 cm, 4-13-flowered, dense at first, elongating in fruit; bracts narrowly ovate to oblanceolate, entire or lower bracts often deeply ternatisect to sub-biternatisect. Pedicel erect, slender, 7-10 mm in flower, 10-14 mm in fruit. Sepals minute. Corolla blue with white markings and often a purplish shade on spur, inner petals pale (often appearing dark at apex due to adaxial dark spot); outer petals acute, crest 1-1.5 mm wide, tapering to both ends, not decurrent on spur; upper petal 12-15 mm; spur straight or slightly downcurved, cylindric, 4-7 mm; nectary 1/2-2/3 as long as spur, thin; lower petal 8-10 mm, rhombic-acute; inner petals 6-8 mm. Stigma slightly emarginate, marginal papillae 4, rather flat; geminate papillae lateral and on basal lobes. Capsule reflexed from erect pedicel, oblong to obovoid, 5-9 × 1.5-2 mm, 3-7-seeded. Seeds ca. 1 mm, smooth, with small appressed elaiosome. Fl. Jun-Oct, fr. Aug-Oct.
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