Herbs, 15-35 cm tall. Lateral roots numerous, to 15 cm, 1-2 mm in diam. Rhizomes to 6 cm. Stems 1 or 2, erect, longer than leaves. Basal leaves 4-6; petiole 6-10 cm; leaf blade ovate to oblong, 3.5-7(-12) cm, papery, base cuneate and tapering, margin broadly crenate or rarely entire, apex rounded and apiculate. Stem leaves 2-6, sessile, smaller than basal leaves. Spikes 4-10 cm, ca. 2 cm in diam.; bracts dark yellow-green, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, apex sharp. Calyx pale yellow-green, at anthesis slightly longer than bracts, margin thin fimbriate. Corolla white, rarely purple, 0.8-1.2 cm; tube straight, as long as or slightly longer than limb; lower lip lobes 2-4, lanceolate; upper lip unlobed, rarely 2-lobed, lobes oblong. Anthers subsagittate. Style included. Fl. Jun-Aug.

* Alpine grassland; 3300-4700 m. NW Sichuan, Xizang, NW Yunnan.