Authors:
often behaving as a biennial. Basal rosette leaves to 20cm or more long, elliptic to linear-oblong, tapering to their stalks. Flowers 3-5cm across, four to eight petalled, pale to deep true blue and shades of purple, more rarely white and yellow, usually in racemose clusters, sometimes also singly directly from the basal leaf axils, late spring onwards. Western Nepal to southwestern China, among rocks and on stony slopes at 3500-5500m. A variable plant in stature, flower size and colour, and seed should only be saved from the best. Easily grown even in the drier areas. [Pl.271].
