Herbs erect. Rhizomes woody. Stems 60-100 cm, yellow-brown, subglabrous, apically white stellate tomentose, purple-brown when dry. Petiole 5-10 mm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate-oblong, broadly elliptic, to elliptic, 7-13(-20) × 4-8(-9.5) cm, papery, adaxially ± minutely hispid, subglabrescent, abaxially stellate, base broadly cuneate-attenuate, margin serrate above base, apex acuminate. Spikes cylindric, 8-18(-40) × ca. 1.5 cm, stellate tomentose, interrupted basally; lower bracts leaflike, sessile, broadly ovate-lanceolate, ca. 1.5 cm, adaxially sparsely minutely hispid, abaxially stellate tomentose, base subcordate, margin sparsely toothed, apex acute; upper bracts ovate-rhombic, yellow-brown at base. Pedicel 1-3 mm. Calyx tubular-campanulate or campanulate, ca. 4 mm, densely white stellate tomentose, tube ca. 3 mm, anterior teeth wider than posterior teeth. Corolla ca. 7 mm, densely white stellate tomentose, annulus densely hairy at middle of tube; tube ca. 3 mm, gradually dilated upward; limb spreading, upper lip ca. 1 × 2 mm, apex 2-lobed or occasionally entire, straight; middle lobe of lower lip ca. 2 mm wide, lateral lobes ca. 1 mm. Nutlets unknown. Fl. Aug-Oct.

* Streamsides, hillsides, thickets, forests, open areas; 600-1400 m. Anhui, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang