Rhizomes short, herbaceous. Stems erect, 1 or rarely 2, 30-80 cm tall, often simple, usually with white curly hairs. Leaves alternate at least apically on stem, rarely all opposite, sessile or subsessile; leaf blade linear to ovate-orbicular, glabrous or white pubescent, margin entire or occasionally distally dentate. Inflorescences 1 or several. Pedicel 2-4 mm, pubescent. Corolla blue, purple, or rarely white, 5-6 mm; tube ca. 2 mm; upper lobe ovate-orbicular, other 3 lobes ovate. Stamens exserted, glabrous. Capsule 2-3.5 X 2-3.5 mm. Fl. Jun-Oct.

Meadows, thickets, sparse forests; 200-2100 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia (Far East, E Siberia)].