Delphinium caeruleum Jacquem. ex Cambess. in Jacquem., Voy. Bot. 4: 7, t. 6. 1835; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 25. 1872. D. grandiflorum L. var. kunawarensis Bruehl in Ann. R. Bot. Gard. Calc. 5: 98. 1896.

Perennial herbs; stems erect, 10 - 15(-40) cm high, branched from base, spreading, somewhat deflexed, pubescent. Basal leaves with petioles up to 10 cm long; upper cauline leaves with shorter petioles; lamina suborbicular, 2 - 4 cm in diam., 5- to 7-partite; lobes incised or pinnatifid almost to base into linear-Ianceolate, 5 - 20 x 2 - 3 mm segments. Flowers ca 2.5 em long, solitary or few in racemes; pedicels 2 - 8 cm long; bracteoles linear, 5 - 8 mm long, placed near or above the middle of pedicels. Sepals densely pubescent, pale to intense blue; lamina of uppermost sepal ovate, acute, 12 - 16 x 8 - 9 mm; spur straight, acute at apex, 18 - 22 x 2 - 3 mm, subhorizontal; lateral sepals oblong-ovate, 14 - 17 x 5 - 8 mm; lower petals ovate, ca 7 x 5 mm, entire, pointed or notched at apex, pubescent at base. Petals bluish, glabrous; upper petals slightly oblique, ca 7 mm long, entire, narrow or rounded at apex; spur 14 -15 mm long; lower petals oblong-obovate, 7 x 5.5 mm with a round hairy patch near the base, entire or cleft for about 2 mm; claw ca 4.5 mm long. Stamens 5 - 6 mm long; anthers dark, ca 1 mm long. Follicles 3 - 5, pubescent, ca 8 mm long with about 2 - 3 mm long beak.

Fl. & Fr. July - Oct.

Distrib. India: Grassy and rocky slopes in alpine regions, 3800 - 5800 m. Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

Nepal, Bhutan and China (Tibet).