Herbs perennial, 3.5--15 cm tall, drying black. Stems 1 to several, erect, unbranched, with lines of hairs. Basal leaf petiole 2.5--4 cm, fleshy, glabrous; leaf blade linear to elliptic-oblong, 3--4 X ca. 1 cm, pinnatisect; segments 8--23 pairs, triangular or ± ovate-oblong, pinnatifid, incised-dentate. Stem leaves few, alternate. Inflorescences dense; proximal bracts linear. Flowers short pedicellate. Calyx 1--1.2 cm; lobes 5, unequal, long ciliate. Corolla red throughout; tube ca. 1.2 cm; galea ca. as long as tube, slightly falcate; lower lip much shorter than galea. 2 filaments densely pubescent, 2 glabrous. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug.

* Alpine swampy meadows; 4100--4600 m. NW Yunnan