Delphinium denudatum Wallich [Cat. no. 4719.1830, nom. nud.] ex Hook. f. & Thomson, Fl. Ind. 49. 1855 & in Fl. Brit. India 1: 25. 1872 D. pauciflorum Royle, Illus. Bot. Himal. 55. 1834 (non D. Don, 1825).

Perennial much-branched herbs, 40 - 80 cm high; stems subglabrous to coarsely strigose above, terete. Lower leaves with up to 15 cm long petioles dilated at base; cauline leaves remote, gradually reduced upwards with much shorter petioles; lamina sub orbicular, 3 to 5-partite; lobes obovate, deeply coarsely laciniate into suboblong lobes or teeth. Inflorescence an open panicle of few-flowered racemes, sparsely flowered; bracts linear, 5 - 15 mm long; pedicels 1 - 4 cm long; bracteoles 2, placed near the middle of the pedicel, 2 - 4 mm long; flowers fragrant, blue or violet. Upper sepal ovate, acute, 12 - 13 x 6 - 7 mm, pubescent; spur 14 - 15 mm long,3 - 4 mm wide at base, subacute at tip; lateral sepals oblong-ovate, rounded at apex, ca 13 x 7 - 8 mm, pubescent on midline; lower sepals oblong-ovate, 14 - 15 x 7 mm, rounded at apex, pubescent. Upper petals white with blue tinge at apex, the blade 8 - 9 mm long, glabrous, bidentate, oblique; spur 13 - 15 mm long; lower petals blue or violet, the claw ca 5 mm long; blade elliptic, bearded, ca 6 mm long, cleft almost half way. Stamens somewhat violet, glabrous, 5 - 6 mm long; anthers bluish, ca 0.8 mm long. Follicles 3, sparsely strigose or subglabrous, 10 - 16 x 3 - 3.5 mm with 2 - 3 mm long beak; seeds obpyramidal, ca 1 mm long; dark, covered with irregularly arranged rows of scales. ca 1 mm long; dark, covered with irregularly arranged rows of scales.

Fl. & Fr. April - June.

Distrib. India: Open slopes on alpine and subalpine regions, 1800 - 4000 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Pakistan.

Notes. Chromosome no. n = 10 (Sarkar et al. in Taxon 31: 576. 1982).