Distribution: Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains.

Habitat: Dry, gravelly ground, sagebrush deserts to the ponderosa pine region in the mountains.

Flowers: March-August

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bumblebees, bees, flies, butterflies, hummingbirds

Pubescent perennial from fleshy roots, the stems 1.5-4 dm. tall, usually single and simple.

Leaves few, long-petiolate, mostly basal, the blades 2-6 cm. broad, 2-4 times parted or lobed into linear or oblong-lanceolate segments 1.5-5 mm. broad; cauline leaves much reduced upward.

Inflorescence simple or compound, the racemes 3-15 flowered; the lower pedicels several times as long as the flowers, spreading or ascending; sepals 5, deep purplish-blue, widely spreading, 17-25 mm. long, the lower pair the largest; the spur 13-20 mm. long, from about as long to twice as long as the top sepal; petals 4, small, the lower pair sometimes brownish or yellow-purplish, or all deep purplish-blue, the blade 3-4 mm. long, deeply bi-lobed; stamens numerous; pistils 3.

Follicles 15-22 mm. long, somewhat spreading.

Specimen records from west of the Cascade Mountains need to be re-examined.