Herbs perennial, 1.5--32 cm tall, densely pubescent, drying nearly black. Roots 2 or 3, ± fusiform, fleshy. Stems 1--4, erect or slightly spreading at base, unbranched, densely pubescent. Basal leaves sparsely cespitose; petiole 2--12 cm, densely tomentose; leaf blade ovate-oblong to lanceolate-oblong, 3.5--9.5(--18) X 1--2.5 cm, abaxially glabrous except for finely tomentose midvein, abaxially densely tomentose, pinnatipartite; segments 10--20(--30) pairs, ovate to ovate-oblong, pinnatifid, margin double dentate. Stem leaves few, alternate or sometimes ± opposite, smaller than basal leaves, shorter petiolate. Racemes 5--8(--15) cm; bracts leaflike. Pedicel 0.7--1.5 cm. Calyx 1--1.2 cm, 1/2 cleft anteriorly; lobes 3 or 5, unequal, posterior lobe smallest, all dentate. Corolla purple to purplish red, 2.6--3 cm; tube erect, 8--10 mm; galea strongly curved; beak uncinate, 5--6 mm, 2-cleft or entire; lower lip completely enveloping galea, ca. 1.7--2 X 2--2.3 cm, long ciliate, middle lobe reniform and cordate basally. Filaments long pubescent. Capsule oblong-lanceolate, 1.7--2 cm X 5--6 mm. Fl. Jun--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

Alpine meadows; 3200--4600 m. E, S, and SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, N Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim]