root woody; stems half-herbaceous, tufted, erect, sub-simple, filiform, downy; leaves lanceolate, acuminate; pungently mucronate, the lower ones broader, with reflexed edges; racemes lateral, few-flowered, with a wavy rachis; bracts deciduous; alæ herbaceous, ovato-lanceolate, acute, mucronate, ant. sepals ovate, sharply acuminate; keel with a multipartite crest, ant. petals obovate or cuneate, truncate; capsule oval-oblong, emarginate, wider than the alæ. Densely tufted, 3–6 inches high, with slender, wiry stems. The lower leaves are somewhat ovate; the midribs prominent. Flowers small, the alæ green and very narrow; keel and petals flesh coloured or purple. Allied to P. asbestina, but differing in the foliage and habit.
