Herbs annual, 25--45 cm tall, not drying black. Stems single or 4 or 5 cespitose, erect or outer stems ascending, branched basally or unbranched, sparsely pubescent or with lines of white hairs. Proximal leaves opposite, distal ones in whorls of 4; petiole of proximal leaves slender, to 2.5--3 cm, distal leaves sessile or short petiolate; leaf blade long ovate to elliptic-oblong, 1.5--3 X 1.4--2 cm, pinnatipartite; segments 4--8 pairs, ovate-oblong, incised-dentate. Inflorescences capitate or spicate, elongated to 8 cm, interrupted basally; proximal bracts leaflike, longer than flowers, distal ones ca. as long as to shorter than flowers. Calyx campanulate, slightly cleft anteriorly, white villous; tube 7--8 mm; lobes 5, unequal, triangular to ovate-oblong, entire to dentate. Corolla pale red, 1.5--2 cm; tube bent within calyx tube, 6--8 mm; galea ± falcate, 0.9--1.2 cm, apex with a short truncate beaklike tip; lower lip shorter than galea, 6--8 X 6--9 mm, finely ciliate. Filaments glabrous. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug.

* Alpine meadows, thickets; 2700--3500 m. SW Gansu, NW and W Sichuan.