Herbs annual, erect, 15--60 cm tall, not drying black. Stems many branched basally or unbranched, with 4 lines of hairs. Leaves opposite or distal ones in whorls of 3 or 4, sessile or petiole to 5 mm, villous; leaf blade long ovate to ovate-oblong, 2--5 X 0.7--1.5 cm, pubescent on both surfaces, pinnatipartite to pinnatisect; segments 6--10 pairs, linear to linear-oblong, incised-dentate. Inflorescences spicate, very dense, to 6.5 cm, sometimes interrupted basally; proximal bracts leaflike, distal ones long ovate, shorter than to 1--3 X as long as flowers, entire. Calyx 5--8 mm, shallowly cleft anteriorly, membranous, densely pubescent along veins; lobes 5, unequal, densely pubescent; posterior one smallest, entire, others serrate. Corolla rose to pale purple, 1.3--1.6 cm; tube erect basally, slightly curved apically, 6--8 mm; galea sometimes yellowish green, 8--9 mm, apex acute; lower lip 6--10 mm, spreading, ciliate, middle lobe smaller than lateral pair, ovate. Anterior filament pair densely pubescent. Capsule ovoid, ± compressed, 0.8--1.2 cm, obliquely short apiculate. Fl. Apr--Sep, fr. Aug--Oct.
* Swampy or alpine meadows, forests; 1900--4400 m. W Sichuan, S and SE Xizang, NW Yunnan
