Herbs perennial, 4--30(--40) cm tall, drying slightly black. Roots ± fusiform, fascicled, fleshy. Stems single to numerous, erect or flexuous, unbranched, glabrescent, shiny. Basal leaves usually densely fascicled; petiole 2--5 cm; leaf blade linear-oblong, pinnatisect; segments 9--12 pairs, ovate, glabrescent, dentate, teeth callose. Stem leaves few, shorter petiolate than basal leaves. Inflorescences short racemose, sometimes to 8 cm; bracts leaflike. Pedicel to 1(--1.5) cm, glabrous. Calyx long ovate, 1.2--1.5 cm, 1/2 cleft anteriorly, often with purplish dots; lobes 5, unequal, posterior one lanceolate and ± entire, lateral lobes ovate and serrate. Corolla rose to violet-purple, to 1.7--2.5(--3) cm, to ca. 2 X longer than calyx, pubescent; tube erect; galea erect basally, ± bent at a right angle apically; beak S-shaped to semicircular, 7--10 mm; lower lip 1.4--2.8 cm, wide, ciliate or not. 2 filaments pubescent, 2 glabrous. Capsule lanceolate-ovoid, ca. 1.9 cm X 6 mm. Seeds ca. 2 mm. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Jul--Sep. 2n = 16.

Moist alpine meadows, boggy places along streams, among small Rhododendron and other shrubs in moist locations on open hillsides; 2300--5000 m. Gansu, Hebei, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan]