Herbs rhizomatous. Stems purplish, erect, 12-36 cm tall, subglabrous to upwardly curved pubescent or densely strigose especially upward. Petiole 1-3 mm, pubescent; leaf blade linear to triangular-ovate, 1.5-3.8 × 0.2-1.4 cm, adaxially glabrous, densely strigose, or densely appressed pubescent, abaxially sparsely appressed puberulent except on veins or sparsely pubescent along midrib and veins, sometimes subglabrous, glandular or not, margin shallowly dentate or occasionally subentire. Racemes poorly defined, terminal, secund; bracteoles needlelike, ca. 1 mm, inserted near base of pedicels in pairs. Flowers axillary. Pedicel 2-4 mm, pubescent. Calyx 3-4 mm, pubescent outside, ciliate, to 4.5 mm in fruit; scutellum ca. 1 mm, to 2 mm in fruit. Corolla blue-purple, 2-2.2 cm, pubescent outside, glabrous inside; tube saccate-geniculate in front, base ca. 2 mm wide, gradually dilated to 6.5 mm wide at throat; middle lobe of lower lip circular-ovate, ca. 7 mm wide, apex emarginate; lateral lobes ovate, ca. 2.5 mm wide, apex emarginate. Nutlets black, ellipsoid, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm, tuberculate, adaxially umbonate near base. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

Deciduous broad-leaved forests, pine forests, marshy grasslands, grassy slopes; 0-2100 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi [Japan, Mongolia, Russia]