Small shrubs, (0.15–)0.3–0.6(–1.2) m tall; bud scales deciduous or persistent. Petiole 2–4 mm; leaf blade leathery, aromatic, oblong-ovate, elliptic, ovate to orbicular, 0.9–1.8 × 0.4–1 cm; base rounded or broadly cuneate; apex rounded or obtuse, mucronate; abaxial surface scales overlapping, lacerate, dark reddish brown and dark brown, arranged in 2–3 tiers, lowermost tier usually darker than others; adaxial surface dark green or brownish, sparsely scaly when young, glabrescent. Inflorescence 5–10-flowered, bud scales persistent. Pedicel 0.3–0.6 cm; calyx lobes 4–6 mm, oblong to obovate, unequal, persisting to enclose mature capsule, densely scaly, margin ciliate; corolla narrowly tubular, pink, white, rarely yellow, 0.8–1.8 cm, tube 4.5–11.5 mm, outer surface not scaly, laxly to densely pilose, inner surface densely pilose; stamens 5(or 6), included in corolla tube, filaments glabrous; ovary 1–2 mm, scaly or not, sometimes densely hairy; style thick, shorter than ovary. Capsule ovoid, 2–4 mm. Fl. and fr. May–Jul.

Scrub, alpine meadows, steep alpine slopes, hillsides, moraines; 2900–5100 m. SE Xizang [Bhutan].