Herbs perennial, 7--13 cm tall, not drying black. Roots sparsely fascicled, ± fleshy. Stems pubescent or glabrescent. Leaves opposite or whorled; petiole to 5 cm basally, glabrous; leaf blade linear-oblong, to 3 cm X 8 mm, pinnatisect; segments 4--10 pairs, ovate-oblong, pinnatifid, dentate. Inflorescences capitate, 3--4 cm; bracts leaflike. Pedicel to 6 mm wide, long ciliate, sparsely pubescent. Calyx to 9 mm, membranous, without reticulate veins; lobes 5, unequal, serrate. Corolla rose, ca. 2.8 cm; tube nearly straight, ca. 1 cm; galea deep purple, slightly falcate apically, longer than tube; beak scarcely 1.5 mm; lower lip ca. as long as galea, lobes slightly acute at apex, ciliate, praemorse. 2 filaments sparsely pubescent, 2 glabrous. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug.

* Swampy alpine meadows; 3600--4300 m. SW Gansu, N Sichuan.