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General:
Perennial herb from tuberous roots; stems slender, erect, simple or branched above, 35-70 cm tall, minutely-hairy, sometimes glandular, bases often reddish.
Leaves:
At time of flowering the basal leaves none to 4 and stem leaves 3 to 7, alternate, stalks 0.5-11 cm long, blades round, 1.5-5 cm long, 3-9 cm wide, reduced upward, palmately divided, the leaflets incised into narrowly oblong to linear segments, the ultimate segments 5 to 18 and 2-15 mm wide on basal leaves, 1-10 mm wide on stem leaves, entire, minutely-hairy.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a 3- to 15-flowered, terminal raceme, the flowers bilaterally symmetric; bracts linear, green to bluish, 4-6 mm long, minutely-hairy; flower stalks ascending, 1.5-4 cm long, minutely-hairy, sometimes glandular; petals 4, the upper 2 united, pale blue to white, spurred, enclosed in upper sepal, nectary inside spur, the lower petals 2, blue, mostly covering stamens, clawed, 8-12 mm long, shallowly notched at tip, the hairs white or blue, sparse, mostly near junction of blade and claw; sepals 5, blue to purple, minutely-hairy, the lateral two spreading, 13-20 mm long, 5-11mm wide, the lower two similar to lateral, the upper one spurred, the spur straight, 11-17 mm long; pistils 3.
Fruits:
Follicles, 11-17 mm long, 3.5- to 4-times longer than wide, minutely-hairy; seeds obpyramidal, winged, smooth.
Notes:
Toxic; known to cause livestock poisoning.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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