Aquilegia anemonoides Willdenow, Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neuesten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. 5: 401. 1811; Isopyrum grandiflorum Fischer ex de Candolle; Paraquilegia grandiflora (Fischer ex de Candolle) J. R. Drummond & Hutchinson.

Leaves 2-ternate, glabrous; petiole 1.5--6 cm; leaf blade green, subdeltoid, ca. 1 × 1--2 cm; leaflet petiolule 1.5--4 mm; leaflet blade broadly rhombic to subreniform, ca. 6 × 10 mm, 3-parted to 3-sect, base broadly cuneate; segments cuneiform-obovate, apically 3-lobulate or with 3 obtuse teeth. Scapes 1--3, 6--9 cm tall, glabrous; bracts narrowly oblanceolate, 5--9 mm, undivided or 3-sect. Flowers ca. 2 cm in diam. Pedicel 5--14 mm, glabrous. Sepals bluish to purplish, broadly elliptic to obovate, ca. 1.3 × 0.8 cm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Stamen filament 3--8 mm; anthers ca. 1 mm. Pistils usually 4 or 5, glabrous. Follicles 8--10 mm; persistent styles ca. 2 mm. Seeds few, grayish brown, narrowly ellipsoid to ellipsoid, 1.6--2 mm, densely rugose. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Aug--Oct.

Alpine meadows, fissures of rocks; 2600--3400 m. N Gansu, Ningxia, N Qinghai, Xinjiang, W Xizang [Afghanistan, Bhutan, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia].