Plants annual. Stem (12--)30--80 cm tall, glabrous or sparsely retrorsely puberulent distally, branched. Leaf blade 4--8 cm wide, base broadly cuneate; primary lobes separate for at least 90% of blade radius; central lobe narrowly ovate, pinnately divided nearly to midvein, distally entire, apex long acuminate; ultimate lobules narrowly ovate or lanceolate; proximal leaves usually withered. Raceme 2--12 cm, (1 or)2--10-flowered, retrorsely puberulent; proximal bracts leaflike, distal ones lanceolate to lanceolate-subulate. Pedicels 0.4--1.2 cm; bracteoles borne proximally or near middle of pedicel, lanceolate-linear, 2.5--4.5 mm. Sepals violet or purple, abaxially sparsely puberulent; spur subulate, 0.5--2.2 cm, base 1.5--4 mm in diam.; other sepals 0.6--1.6 cm. Petals distally much widened, glabrous. Staminode limb dolabriform or ovate, 2-parted, 2-lobed, emarginate, or sometimes entire, base subtruncate or broadly cuneate. Filaments glabrous. Ovaries sparsely puberulent or subglabrous. Fl. Mar--May.

Forest margins, scrub, grassy places on slopes or by streams in hilly or low-montane regions; near sea level to 1700 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, S Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, S Shanxi, Sichuan, NE and SE Yunnan, Zhejiang [N Vietnam].