Herbs, perennial, 30-50 cm tall in flower, basally with persistent leaf bases, accompanied by dense, yellowish or brown barbellate setae. Roots fibrous. Leaves all basal, forming a rosette, deciduous; petiole 3-9.8 cm; blade obovate to lanceolate, 2-10 × 1.4-2.2 cm, both surfaces with dense yellowish or brown barbellate setae, obviously longitudinally 3-5-veined, base attenuate and decurrent into petiole, margin entire, apex acute or obtuse. Flowers solitary on scape, up to 3 per leaf rosette, pendent. Scape costate, with fulvous, barbellate, deflexed setae, denser toward top. Flower buds broadly ovoid. Sepals ca. 2 × 1.5 cm, adaxially densely fulvous barbellate-setose. Petals 4-6, pale lilac-blue to purple, obovate or suborbicular, 3-4 × 2.5-3.7 cm. Filaments of same color as petals or white, filiform, 1.5-2 cm; anthers yellowish, oblong, 1-1.5 mm. Ovary spheroidal, ovoid, or oblong, 5-8 mm, with dense, fulvous, barbellate setae; styles short, 1-1.5 mm; stigmas capitate, 3-6-lobed. Capsule elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 1.5-2.5 cm, densely appressed barbellate-setose, slightly 3-6-valvate for a short distance from apex. Seeds black-brown, narrowly ovoid, ca. 3 mm, seed coat tessellate and corrugate. Fl. Jun-Sep. 2n = 76(ca. 84)*.
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