Plants perennial. Stems erect, to 55 cm, floccose-villous. Petiole 10(-12) cm; leaf blade ovate, (5-)6-10.5 × (3-)4-8 cm, ± membranous, densely brownish or brown floccose-tomentose-villous when young, adaxially sparsely villous, abaxially villous especially along veins, sparsely yellowish glandular with age, base cordate to hastate, margin irregularly crenate to shallowly obtuse serrate, apex acute. Inflorescences densely pubescent, villous; verticillasters 2-4-flowered, in axillary racemes ca. 10 cm and terminal ones 10-12 cm, interrupted toward base, ± continuous toward apex; peduncle to 5 cm; lower bracts leaflike, margin dentate; upper bracts subcircular to broadly ovate, 1-1.5 × 0.6-1.2 cm, margin entire. Pedicel 3-4 mm. Calyx campanulate, ca. 1.8 cm, subtruncate or obscurely 2-lipped, veins slightly villous; upper lip truncate; lower lip longer, ca. 2 mm; teeth triangular, apex acute, mucronate. Corolla red, ca. 3.5 cm, villous, adaxially constricted just below hairy annulus, adaxially dilated, slightly curved upward beyond middle, slightly constricted, ca. 1.1 cm wide at throat; upper lip subcircular, ca. 1 cm in diam.; lower lip ± semicircular, ca. 1.7 cm wide; middle lobe subobcordate, ca. 7 mm wide. Filaments ca. 8 mm, slightly curved; connectives ca. 8 mm. Style exserted. Nutlets unknown. Fl. Jun.

Close to Salvia castanea, but with reddish corollas and subtruncate, scarcely 2-lipped calyces.

* Forests; ca. 2700 m. Yunnan