Stems 1-2.5 m tall, to 6 mm in diam. at base; branches and stems striate, sparsely stellate, glabrescent. Petiole 3-7 cm; leaf blade ovate, 5-14 × 2.5-8 cm, densely hirtellous, slightly scabrid adaxially, sparsely stellate abaxially, base broadly cuneate to rounded, margin densely serrulate-crenulate near base, apex acuminate. Verticillasters ca. 2.5 cm in diam. in flower, to 3.5 cm in fruit, shorter than petiole; bracts ca. 1 cm, villous, stellate abaxially. Calyx ca. 5-7 mm, stellate on basal half outside, glabrous inside, densely villous at throat; teeth deltoid, ca. 4 mm including spine, to 6 mm in fruit, with subterminal hooked spine abaxially. Corolla reddish or yellow, ca. 6 mm; tube erect, ca. 5 mm. Nutlets brown, ca. 4 × 2 mm, glabrous. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Oct.

Margins of subtropical evergreen forests, valleys; 1200-2500 m. Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal].