Herbs or subshrubs, 40(-100) cm tall, with tissues often turning black when dry; branches generally quadrangular, densely hirsute to strigose and strigillose becoming glabrescent with age. Petiole 1-7 cm, strigose to strigillose; leaf blade thinly papery to membranous, elliptic or obovate, 8-22 × 4.5-9 cm, adaxially sparsely to moderately hirsute to hispid, abaxially strigillose to strigose or hispid with pubescence denser along principal veins, base acute or cuneate, margins ciliolate, apex acuminate or acute; secondary veins 9-11 pairs; stipules persistent, broadly ovate to triangular, 1-3 mm, glabrescent, cuspidate or 2- or 3-dentate. Inflorescences terminal, pseudoaxillary, and/or axillary on short shoots, 1-flowered, short shoot reduced to developed (appearing as base of articulate peduncle), to 2 mm; peduncle (i.e., directly subtending flower) 3-4 cm; bracts lanceolate, 2-3 mm, acute. Calyx strigillose to strigose or pilose; ovary portion cylindrical to obconical, 3-4 cm; lobes linear-lanceolate, 2.7-4 cm. Corolla purple outside and pink inside, funnelform, outside hirtellous to tomentulose; tube ca. 45 mm; lobes ovate, ca. 10 mm, obtuse then abruptly acuminate with tip ca. 1.5 mm. Filaments free; anthers 6-8 mm, with connective spurred at apex. Berry compressed cylindrical, 40-45 × ca. 5 mm, bisulcate; seeds with testa reticulate. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jun-Oct.

Wu in the protologue explicitly designated two syntypes, H. T. Tsai 55229 collected on 19 May 1934 as the "typus florifer" and H. T. Tsai 60568 collected on 29 Jun 1934 as the "typus fructifer"; his species was published in 1957, so this name is validly published in spite of the lack of a single holotype.

● Forests on mountain slopes; 1000-1500 m. SE Yunnan.