Perennial herb 1-2 m tall; stems glabrous or puberulent, sometimes reddish at the base; leaves all on stem and withered from the basal 1/5 of the stem at the time of anthesis, petioles 7-13 cm long, blades 10-20 cm long and 7-12 cm wide, palmately divided into 5 main lobes, each lobe further dissected into additional lobes or teeth that are rounded at the apex or acute with a blunt tooth (mucro); inflorescence of racemes that are paniculately branched at the base in larger specimens, 40- to 100-flowered, branches and pedicels with short hairs; sepals ovate-acute, bluish purple or pale lavender, rarely pink, sparsely pubescent, lateral sepals forward pointing, 9-14 mm long, the upper sepal extended basally into a spur 9-13 mm long; petal blades hairy, cleft, 5-7 mm long. Flowers July to September.