Delphinium ludlowii Munz in J. Arn. Arb. 49: 105, f. 14K. 1968; Grierson & oblong, Fl. Bhutan 1(2): 312. 1984. D. ludlowianum Chowdhury ex Mukerjee in Bull. Bot. surv. India 2: 293 - 296. 1960, nom. nude

Stems 75 - 100 cm high, rather slender, remotely leafy, pubescent with deflexed hairs towards top. Leaves suborbicular, 10 - 15 cm in diam., gradually reduced towards inforescence into leafy bracts, strigulose on both sides, 5-fid to about 1 cm from base; middle segments cuneate-rhombic, ternately pinnatisect into 3 broad lobes for halfway to the midrib, these shallowly and rather coarsely toothed; the teeth oblong, mucronate, 3 - 5 x 2 - 3 mm; lateral segments deeply bifid, coarsely toothed; petioles up to 12 cm long, slender, subglabrous, slightly sheathed at base. Inflorescence lax, 6 - 20-flowered raceme, 10 - 25 cm long, closely strigulose; bracts petiolate, lanceolate, 1 - 2.5 x 2 - 6 mm; pedicels arched, 1 - 5 cm long; bracteoles subtending the flower, linear-spathulate, 5 - 7 x 1 mm. Sepals blue, purplish or pale maroon, minutely pubescent; uppermost sepal broadly oblong-ovate with an extended blunt tip, 12 - 15 x 10 - 12 mm; spur spreading, 12 - 17 mm long, 4 - 5 mm wide at base, rather abruptly narrowed to an acute tip; lateral sepals oblong-obovate, subtruncate, 11 - 13 x 5 - 8 mm; lower sepals ea 13 mm long, 6 - 7 mm wide, pointed. Petals bluish, upper petals oblong, curved upwards, narrowed and bidentate at apex, ca 10 x 3 mm, glabrous; spur 11 - 13 mm long; lower petals obliquely oblong, 3 - 5 x 2 - 3 mm, bilobed almost halfway, subglabrous; claw ca 5 mm long. Stamens 5 - 6 mm long, glabrous; anthers dark, oblong, ca 1 mm long. Follicles 3, divergent, glabrous, 12 - 13 mm long, ca 3 mm wide, stylar base ca 2.5 mm at apex; seeds angled.

Fl. & Fr. June - Oct.

Distrib. India: Streamsides and shaded ravines, among stones and boulders in forests, 2700 - 3700 m. Sikkim.

Bhutan.