Annuals 3-10 cm tall. Stems ascending to erect, branched from base, glabrous. Basal leaves withered at anthesis; petiole 0.5-1.5 mm; leaf blade ovate-elliptic to ovate, 7-9 × 3-4.5 mm, margin cartilaginous, apex acute and awned, midvein prominent. Stem leaves folded; petiole tube 1.5-2.5 mm; leaf blade linear, 5-10 × 1.5-2 mm, longer toward apex, margin narrowly membranous, apex acuminate and awned, midvein abaxially prominent. Flowers few. Pedicel 0.5-2 cm, exserted from uppermost leaves, glabrous. Calyx narrowly obconic, 7-10 mm; lobes linear-lanceolate, 3-4 mm, margin narrowly membranous and smooth, apex acuminate and awned, midvein prominent. Corolla blue to pale purple, with yellow-green base and blue-gray stripes, obconic, 1.2-1.5 cm; lobes ovate-elliptic to ovate, 3-4 mm, margin entire, apex obtuse; plicae oblong, 1.5-2 mm, margin irregularly laciniate, apex truncate. Stamens inserted at middle of corolla tube, equal; filaments 3-4 mm; anthers curved, ellipsoid to reniform, 0.7-1 mm. Style 1.5-2 mm, cylindric; stigma lobes narrowly oblong. Capsules narrowly obovoid to obovoid, 5-6 mm; gynophore to 2 cm, slender. Seeds light brown, ellipsoid, 1-1.2 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun-Sep.

* River banks, bog meadows, alpine meadows, scrub meadows, steppes, forest clearings, sunny gravel places, valleys; 1800-4600 m. Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang.