Herbs annual, 10--18 cm tall. Stems usually short, glabrescent. Basal leaves in a rosette; petiole 1--2 cm, sparsely long ciliate; leaf blade lanceolate to narrowly oblong, glabrous on both surfaces, pinnatifid to pinnatipartite; segments 5--9 pairs, margin double dentate. Stem leaves alternate or pseudo-opposite, with shorter petioles. Flowers axillary. Pedicel short. Calyx tubular, 1.1--1.5 cm, 2/5 cleft anteriorly, glabrous except for fine ciliate lobes; lobes 2 or 3, ± palmatipartite. Corolla yellow, some with a narrow maroon stripe on each antero-lateral ridge of palate, 5--8 cm; tube pubescent; galea gradually curving into beak; beak semicircular, ca. 6 mm, 2-cleft at apex; lower lip 1.1--1.2 X ca. 2 cm, long ciliate, all lobes emarginate. Filaments densely pubescent. Capsule lanceolate, to 2.2 cm X 6 mm. Seeds narrowly ovoid, ca. 2 mm. Fl. Jul--Sep, fr. Aug--Oct. 2n = 16.
Alpine meadows, along streams, springs, seeps; 2100--5300 m. Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, W Sichuan, SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia (Siberia), Sikkim, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan]
