Erect, fairly stout, perennial herb, 15-45 cm tall, simple, rarely branched, purplish, glandular-pubescent, especially above; scales narrow, few towards the base. Spikes lax, elongated. Bracts slightly shorter than calyx, lanceolate; bracteoles narrow, linear, ± as long as the calyx. Calyx campanulate with 4, short, lanceolate-acute teeth, shorter than tube. Corolla (18-) 20-30 mm long, 2-3 times as long as the calyx, dull bluish-purple, suffused with yellow at the base, tubulose-infundibuliform, constricted just below the middle at the insertion point of stamens, ± curved above; upper lip acutely 2-lobed, lower 3 lobes subacute; anthers subglabrous. Stigma lobes dull or whitish. Capsule 8-10 mm long, ovoid.

Fl. Per.: June-July.

Type: In collibus et montosis siccis agri Vindobonensis, Jacquin (W).

Distribution: Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia to the Himalayas.

Reported to be parasitic on roots of Artemisia and Achillea species.