Delphinium altissimum Wallich [Cat. 167, n. 4718. 1831, nom. nud.] Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 25, t. 128. 1831; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 26. 1872. D. altissimum subsp. wallichii var. nipalensis Bruehl in Ann. R. Bot. Gard. Calc. 5: 101. 1896.

Perennial herbs; roots elongate, fleshy, branched or simple; stems 1 - 1.5 m high, few-branched above, terete, glabrous at base, sparsely strigulose above. Leaves scat- tered; lower petioles longer than upper, up to 30 cm long, slightly sheathed at base; lamina pentagonal in outline, cordate at base, up to 15 cm across, palmately 5-partite for up to 1 - 20 cm from base; segments broadly cuneate-obovate, acute, 3-lobed, often with more short lobes or large coarse broad teeth, subglabrous above, pubescent on nerves beneath; uppermost leaves trifid. Inflorescence lax with a many-flowered central dense raceme and some few-flowered lateral branches, strigose with long white hairs, not glandular-hairy; bracts lanceolate to linear, leafy, 2 - 3 cm long, pubescent; pedicels 1 - 2(-5) cm long, divaricate; bracteoles 2, linear-lanceolate, 4 - 5 x 0.5 rom, placed above the middle on the pedicel. Sepals deep blue, densely pubescent; upper sepal obovate, acute, 13 -15 x7- 8 mm; spur 18 - 22 mm long, 3 - 4 mm wide at base, slightly curved; lateral and lower sepals oblong-obovate, obtuse, ca 15 x 8 - 10 mm. Petals purple to rich purple, darker than sepals, the upper blades oblong, somewhat oblique, bidentate at apex, ca 11 mm long; spur subulate, 17 - 18 mm long; lamina of lower petals oblong-ovate, 5 - 6 x 4 - 5 mm, deeply bifid, ciliate; claw ca 7 mm long. Stamens 8 - 9 mm long, glabrous; anthers rounded-oblong, ca 1 mm long. Follicles 3, cylindrical, divergent, pubescent, ca 12 x 3 mm, with ca 2.5 mm long beak; seeds obovoid, round in cross-section.

Fl. & Fr. July-Sept.

Distrib. India: Old cultivated fields, open slopes and streamsides along edges of forests, 1400 - 2500 m. Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Nepal and Bhutan.