Delphinium roylei Munz in J. Arn. Arb. 48: 292-293.1967. D. incanum Royle, Illus. Bot. Himal. 55. 1834 (non E.D. Clarke, 1812); Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 25.1872.

Herbs, up to 1 m high; roots tuberous; stems simple or branched above, hoary. Lower leaves withering soon; lamina 5 - 8 cm wide, palmately multi-partite; lobes cuneate, sharply incised; petioles up to 10 cm long; upper leaves with shorter petioles or sessile. Flowers in branched racemes, many-flowered. Sepals broadly elliptic, deep purplish blue; spur of upper sepal 13 - 14 mm long, much longer than sepal, straight. Upper petals pale blue; lower ones deep blue, bearded. Stamens 5 - 7 mm long, glabrous. Follicles 3, strigose; seeds with transverse row of scales.

Fl. Aug. - Sept.

Distrib. India: Open slopes of alpine ranges in Kashmir between 1500 - 4200 m. Jammu & Kashmir and Orissa (Mahendragiri).

Notes. Paul (in Geobios 2: 27. 1975) records this species from Mahendragiri in Orissa at about 1500 m altitude.