Perennial herb 0.9-2.5 m tall; stems glabrous, green or bluish-green at the base; leaves all on stem and withered from the basal 1/5 of the stem at the time of anthesis, petioles 3-13 cm long, blades 8-18 cm long and 5-10 cm wide, palmately divided into 5 main lobes, each lobe further dissected into additional lobes or teeth; inflorescence of racemes that are sometimes paniculately branched at the base in larger specimens, 20- to 140-flowered, branches and pedicels with short hairs; sepals ovate-acute, bluish-purple or lavender, becoming brownish with age, sparsely pubescent, lateral sepals forward pointing, 7-11 mm long, the upper sepal extended basally into a spur 7-11 mm long; petal blades hairy, cleft, 5-7 mm long. Flowers July to September.