Pedicularis spicata Pallas var. australis Bonati; P. szetschuanica Maximowicz var. elata Bonati.

Herbs annual, more than 50 cm tall, sparsely pubescent, not drying black. Stems single, erect, often many branched apically, with 4 lines of hairs. Leaves in whorls of 3 or 4; proximal petioles to 1 cm, winged; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 2--5 cm X 0.8--2.3 mm, abaxially glabrous, adaxially sparsely pubescent, pinnatipartite; segments 6--9 pairs, linear-oblong to triangular-ovate, incised-dentate. Inflorescences spicate, 2--4(--6) cm; bracts leaflike, proximal ones longer than flowers, distal ones triangular-ovate, long ciliate. Flowers small. Calyx ovoid, ca. 4 mm, membranous; lobes by fusion appearing 3, unequal, posterior one triangular, ca. 0.8 mm, villous along midvein and ciliate. Corolla purplish red; tube strongly bent in calyx, deflexed, ca. 5 mm, straight and gradually expanded apically; galea ca. 2.5--3 mm, margin entire, rounded in front; lower lip spreading, longer than galea, ca. 7 mm, middle lobe rounded, much smaller than lateral lobes. 2 filaments villous, 2 glabrous. Capsule triangular-lanceolate, ca. 1.2 cm X 4 mm, 1/2 exceeding calyx, short apiculate. Fl. Jun, fr. Jun--Jul.

* Grassy slopes; ca. 2000 m. W Hubei, E Sichuan.