Herbs, monocarpic, 15-60 cm tall, throughout rubiginous or yellowish bristly. Taproot long and stout, ca. 30 × 2.5 cm. Stems erect, terete, rubiginous or yellowish bristly, basally with persistent leaf bases. Basal leaves: petiole 2-11 cm, including wings 2-6 mm wide; blade lanceolate or narrowly ovate, 5-13 × 2.5-4 cm, midvein broad, shallowly channeled, lateral veins slender, basally attenuate into petiole, margin pinnatipartite, apex rounded or acute; lobes oblong, apex rounded, rarely acute, usually rounded-incised. Cauline leaves like basal leaves but smaller, shortly petiolate or sessile to subsessile. Inflorescence racemose; flowers 6-20, very fragrant, only lowermost bracteate, sometimes accompanied by solitary-flowered basal scapes, rarely basal scape bases agglomerated on short stems. Pedicel erect, 2-8 cm. Flower buds spheroidal, 1-2 cm in diam. Sepals adaxially fulvous spreading bristly. Petals 4-8, blue to fleshy-mauve, obovate to suborbicular, 2-4.5 × 2-4 cm, apex rounded. Filaments of same color as petals but more deeply colored, filiform, ca. 1 cm; anthers oblong, ca. 1 mm. Ovary spheroidal to ovoid, ca. 5 mm, densely rubiginous spiny-hairy; styles 2-4 mm, ridged, sometimes near base spiny-hairy; stigmas oblong, 2-3 mm. Capsule elliptic, 1.5-2.5 × 0.5-1.2 cm, densely rubiginous but base purple or fulvous spiny-hairy; styles stout, extended to 1 cm, 4-8-valvate for ca. 1/3 its length from apex. Seeds reniform, seed coat longitudinally pitted. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.
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