Annuals, 10-50 cm tall, pubescent with eglandular hairs. Stems erect, white pubescent. Leaves sessile, ovate to deltoid-orbicular, 1-2 X 0.7-1.5 cm, hispid, margin toothed. Spikes 3-15 cm, flowers crowded, elongated and lax in fruit; bracts leaflike, conspicuously larger than leaves. Calyx tubular, 5-7 mm, hispid; lobes narrowly triangular, apex acuminate. Corolla white or pale purple, pubescent outside and upper side more densely so; upper side 5-10 mm; lower lip ca. 1 mm, longer than galea, lobes conspicuously notched. Anthers brown. Capsule narrowly oblong, 4-8 mm, emarginate. Seeds white, ca. 1 mm. Fl. Jun-Sep.

Shaded grassy slopes, thickets, slopes in steppes or meadows, rarely by water or sparse woods; 2400-3200(-4000) m. W Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shandong, Shanxi, NW Sichuan, Xinjiang [Korea, Mongolia, Russia (Far East); Europe].