Herbs, perennial, 7-12 cm above scree surface; leaves and bracts with coarse 1-celled hairs abaxially and marginally; stems and petioles of radical leaves attenuate to filiform underground base. Storage roots fascicled, linear-oblong, 3-8(-15) cm × 2-4 mm. Stems 1-4, simple or branched, with long slender leafless underground part and 2 leaves at scree surface, sometimes 1 or 2 small pinnate leaves higher up. Radical leaves few; blade triangular to ovate, 3-9 × 2-6 cm, bi-(tri-)pinnate; pinnae 4-6 pairs, lower ones petiolulate, upper ones sessile; pinnules entire or lower ones deeply unequally 3-fid, elliptic-acute, 4-7 × 2-4 mm. Cauline leaves shortly petiolate to sessile; blade oblong, 3-8 × 2-3 cm, bipinnate; pinnules like radical leaves. Raceme capitate, 2.5-4 cm, 15-30-flowered, simple or with a basal branch; bracts 10-20 mm, deeply pinnatifid, segments again deeply lobed into narrow acute to acuminate lobes. Pedicel 8-12 mm, soon arcuate at tip, 12-18 mm in fruit. Sepals 1.5-2 × ca. 2 mm, laciniate-dentate. Corolla long persistent, pale to golden yellow, broad; apex of inner petals contrasting dark purple; upper petal 18-23 mm, broad, narrowed to subobtuse apex, margin ± undulate; abaxial crest 1.5-3 mm wide, obtuse, overtopping apex, hardly decurrent on spur, entire to dentate; spur strongly arcuately downcurved, cylindric to slightly tapering to obtuse apex, 7-9 mm; nectary 1/3-1/2 as long as spur; lower petal with very broad saccate claw; limb slightly reflexed, short, obtuse, broadly crested, margin undulate-dentate; inner petals 9-12 mm. Stigma green, with 6 marginal papillae (lateral sometimes partly confluent); geminate papillae lateral (submarginal) and on basal lobes. Capsule obovoid, 7-8 × ca. 3 mm, 8-10-seeded; style ca. 3.5 mm. Seeds in 2 rows, 1.5-1.8 mm; caruncle lobed. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.
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