Evergreen herb to about 40 cm tall when in flower; rootstock rhizomatous. Leaves basal. Leaflets mostly 3-5, more or less ovate, tips pointed, margins with a few spiny teeth. Flower stalks leafless with 15-30 flowers. Petals to about 3.5 cm long with a spur. Stamens 5-6 mm long, protruding from the flower; spring to summer.

Russia (W Caucasus)

The following are occasionally available: E. ×versicolor E. Morren has mostly 9 leaflets that are mottled or red at first; it is grown mainly as the cultivar 'Sulphureum' which has flowers with the inner sepals pale yellow and petals bright yellow. E. ×youngianum Fisch. & C.A. Mey., a Japanese hybrid, has 2-9 leaflets and flowers white or rose with variable spur lengths, stamens much shorter than the petals.