Plants monocarpic, 30-60 cm tall (to 100 cm in fruit). Taproot dauciform, ca. 10 × 2 cm, below usually branched. Stems erect, stout, longitudinally striate, fulvous, barbellate-setose, basally ca. 1.5 cm in diam., with a thick wad of persistent leaf bases, leaf bases densely rubiginous or brown, barbellate-setose. Basal leaves forming a dense rosette; petiole long, to 1/2 length of blade, basally ampliate, densely fulvous setose; blade oblanceolate, including petiole 7.5-18 × 0.8-3 cm, both surfaces fulvous, barbellate-setose, midvein broad, lateral veins very slender, base attenuate, margin entire, but shallowly 3-or 5-lobed or toothed or incised at apex, or rarely subentire, apex acute or rounded. Cauline leaves few or more often absent, stem leafless immediately below inflorescence. Inflorescence racemose; flowers 8-30, densely arranged on rachis. Pedicel 1-4 cm, densely barbellate-setose. Bracts leaflike, generally much smaller than leaves, absent from upper flowers. Petals 4, dark purple, purplish blue, blue, or red, sometimes pale yellow (Nepal; India: Sikkim), obovate to suborbicular, 4-5.2 × 3.7-4.5 cm, margin undulate. Filaments filiform, of same color as petals, often deeper, ca. 1.2 cm; anthers yellow, narrowly oblong, 1.5-2 mm. Ovary broadly oblong, ca. 1 cm, with dense fulvous spreading setae; styles terete, 3-6 mm (to 7 mm in fruit) terminated by 4-7 mm clavate stigmas that split into 6-10 linear twisted lobes, base ampliate to broad glabrous disk, disk covering and extended beyond ovary, margin fimbriate; stigmas lobed, lobes free, contorted, or clavate. Capsule oblong, 18-30 cm × 11-16 mm, obviously costate, 6-10-valvate, slightly divided from style disk below, splitting for a short distance from top, stylar disk 14-27 mm in diam. Seeds reniform, seed coat longitudinally pitted or inconspicuously tessellate. Fl. Jun-Aug.
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