Herbs perennial, to 40 cm tall, not drying black. Stems several, erect, unbranched, with 4 lines of hairs. Basal leaves withering early; petiole to 1.5 cm. Stem leaves in whorls of 4, short petiolate, narrowly oblong to oblong-lanceolate, to 5 X 1.8 cm, pinnatisect; segments 7--12 pairs, linear, pinnatifid to incised-dentate. Inflorescences spicate, usually interrupted; proximal bracts leaflike, narrowly ovate, white long ciliate, distal ones entire. Pedicel short. Calyx to 1 cm, membranous, slightly cleft anteriorly; lobes 5, unequal, triangular, white villous ciliate. Corolla yellow; tube strongly curved apically, 1.2--1.4 cm; galea erect, slightly short beaked apically; lower lip ca. as long as galea, not ciliate. Filaments glabrous. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Sep--Oct.

Dry rocky slopes, grassy slopes, sometimes in moist meadows. Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia (W Siberia)].