Perennial herbs with tuberous fleshy roots; stems erect or decumbent, 8-35 (-56) cm tall, glabrous, sparsely short-pubescent or scabridulous below. Principal leaves with blades firm, linear to linear-lanceolate, the lowermost sometimes ob-long, apically acuminate, basally rounded to tapering, often somewhat subclasping and sessile, 1-3(-5) cm long, 2-5(-8) mm wide, usually (3-)7-12(-15) times as long as wide. Inflorescences loosely few-to 30-flowered, often somewhat secund; pedicels ascendant to erect, slender, usually spreading short-pubescent, 4-6(-9) mm long; bracteoles usually present, basal, knoblike or oblong to linear-filiform, 0.5-1.5 mm long. Flowers 8-14 mm long; hypanthium minutely short-pubescent, especially basally, cup shaped and somewhat oblique at anthesis; calyx lobes linear to narrowly triangular, 2-5 mm long, often callose-serrate, sparingly ap-pressed short-pubescent especially near base of the upper surface; corolla gla-brous or nearly so, deep blue or purplish, usually with conspicuous creamy mark-ings near base of the 3 lower lobes, the tube 2.8-3.0 mm long, usually fenestrate, the 2 upper lobes oblong-spatulate to linear or triangular, 3-6 mm long, the 3 lower lobes elliptic to oblong-spatulate, 3-6 'mm long and 2.5-3.5 mm wide; fila-ments ciliate and distinct for most of their length but apically connate into a tube 1-2 mm long, the anther tube 1.0-1.3 mm long, all anthers minutely apically white-tufted. Capsules 1/2-3/4 inferior, 3-5 mm long; seeds ca. 0.5 mm long, dull to somewhat lustrous with faint longitudinal markings.
Home