Herbs perennial. Rhizomes with many fibrous roots. Stems erect, usually not branched, slightly flexuous-curved, 20-50 cm tall, hirsute. Basal leaves withered after anthesis; petiole persistent, 3-10 cm, densely hirsute, base expanded, becoming sheath-shaped; leaf blade broadly ovate to elliptic, 3-10 × 1.5-5.5 cm, strigose, hairs discoid at base, abaxially with prominent midvein and obscure lateral veins, base cuneate to subcordate, margin ciliate, apex acute to acuminate; upper stem leaves short petiolate, smaller, usually narrowly ovate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary in upper stems, to 23 cm in fruit, ebracteate; peduncle long, usually dichotomously branched, strigose. Pedicel vertical, 3-4 mm. Calyx lobes broadly ovate, ca. 2 mm, densely short strigose on lower part, margin finely ciliate, apex obtuse; longitudinal veins prominent. Corolla blue or white; tube ca. 2 mm; throat appendages ca. 1 mm, short hairy, apex retuse; limb ca. 6 mm wide; lobes suborbicular, ca. 3 mm wide. Anthers oblong, ca. 1 mm, reaching throat. Mature nutlets dark brown, inverted subulate, trigonous-tetrahedral, ca. 1 mm, glabrous, shiny, adaxial 3 surfaces subequal in size; abaxial surfaces flat, acutely 3-ribbed, sessile. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

* Forests, forest margins, moist areas, roadsides; 700-2000 m. Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan