Herbs perennial, rhizomatous. Stems erect, 50-100 cm, sometimes branched toward apex, glabrous to pubescent. Petiole 0-2 mm; leaf blade 3-11 × 0.4-1.5 cm, hispid, sometimes only on veins abaxially, base rounded, margin crenulate-serrate, apex acute. Spikes continuous except at base; verticillasters 6-flowered; floral leaves lanceolate, shorter to slightly longer than calyx; bracteoles linear, spinescent, early deciduous. Pedicel ca. 1 mm, hispid. Calyx campanulate, ca. 9 mm, veins and margin densely villous-hispid, glabrous inside, conspicuously 10-veined; teeth lanceolate-triangular, ca. 3 mm, apex spinescent. Corolla purplish to purple, to 1.5 cm, hairy on limb outside; tube straight, ca. 9 mm, glabrous; upper lip straight, ovate, ca. 7 × 4 mm; lower lip ovate, ca. 8 × 7 mm; middle lobe subcircular, ca. 4 mm in diam.; lateral lobes ovate, ca. 2 mm wide. Nutlets brown, ovoid, glabrous. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug.

Wet grassy areas, riverbanks; 200-1700 m. Hebei, Heilong-jiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi [Japan, Korea, Russia].