Small shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1(–2) m tall; branchlets scaly. Petiole 3–15 mm, densely scaly; leaf blade leathery, narrowly oblong, obovate, elliptic to oblong-ovate, 2–4(–7) × 0.8–2(–3.3) cm; base cuneate to rounded; apex obtuse, mucronate; abaxial surface usually dark brown, scales overlapping and flaky, crenulate; adaxial surface green, usually shiny, densely scaly when young, soon lost. Inflorescence 5–10(–18)-flowered; rachis 5–25 mm, pubescent. Pedicel 1.2–3.5 cm, scaly; calyx reddish; lobes unequal, (1.5–)2–4 mm, ovate, oblong to deltoid, persistent in fruit, scaly, usually ciliate; corolla rotate, red-purple, often with darker spots, 0.8–1.6 cm; tube 5–9 mm, densely scaly; stamens 10, longer than tube, filaments densely hairy towards base or for 2/3 of length; ovary densely scaly; style sharply deflexed, short, glabrous. Capsule cylindric-ovate, 5–8 mm, densely scaly. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Aug.

Picea and Tsuga forests, hillsides, screes, mossy rocks; 3000–4000 m. S Xizang [Bhutan, Sikkim].