Rhizome terete, ca. 10 cm, ca. 8 mm in diam. Stem 35--67 cm tall, simple or branched, retrorse (rarely spreading) yellowish pubescent. Basal leaves 1--4, long petiolate; petiole 13--40 cm, base sheathed; leaf blade reniform-pentagonal; 5.5--1.1 × 8.5--22 cm, both surfaces appressed puberulous, base cordate, 3-fid; central lobe obtrapezoid-rhombic, 3-lobed, margin dentate, apex acute, rarely acuminate; lateral lobes obliquely flabellate, unequally 2-lobed. Cauline leaves 2--4, smaller than basal ones, equally arranged along stem or mostly near stem base or below inflorescence, sometimes absent; petiole sheathed. Inflorescence (20--)25--40 cm, 15--40-flowered; rachis and pedicels densely spreading yellowish pubescent; bracts lanceolate or oblong. Pedicels 1.4--3.4 cm, spreading yellowish pubescent, with 2 bracteoles at base; bracteoles similar to but shorter than bracts. Sepals blue-purple, abaxially sparsely spreading hispid; upper sepal cylindric, 1.3--1.8 cm high, external margin ± erect, with a beak. Petaline lip linear, conspicuous; spur circinate, 2--3 × as long as limb, sparsely pubescent or glabrous. Stamens glabrous; filaments entire. Carpels 3; ovary sparsely villous. Follicles unequal in size, 7.5--13 mm. Seeds white, obovate, ca. 1.5 mm. Fr. Aug--Sep. 2n = 16*.

Forests, forest margins, grassy slopes, valleys; 1200--3900 m. S Gansu, Guizhou, SW Henan, Hubei, N Hunan, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, N and NE Yunnan [Bhutan, N Myanmar, Nepal].