Herbs annual. Stems 2-15 cm tall, erect or ascending, turning red basally, sparsely pilose. Leaves long petiolate, elliptic to oblong, to 15 × 8 mm, pilose, margin with few oblique serrations, apex obtuse. Verticillasters 2-6-flowered, in compact spikes; bracts similar to stem leaves, as long as or longer than flowers. Pedicel 2-3 mm. Calyx 5-9 mm, spreading pilose, sometimes reddish, distinctly 10-veined; teeth ovate-lanceolate, equal or subequal, straight, apex cuspidate; fruiting calyx slightly dilated, urceolate-campanulate, constricted. Corolla purplish, included or slightly exserted, upper lip 2-lobed. Nutlets gray, triquetrous, ovoid, 1-1.5 mm, smooth. Fl. and fr. Jun-Aug.

Kamelin (in litt.) believes that Chinese records of this species are based on misidentifications of Sideritis montana which can have a purplish corolla when dried.

Valleys, thickets. Xinjiang [Russia; SW Asia].