Herbs perennial, 50--70(--90) cm tall, erect, pubescent, drying black. Roots ± fleshy. Stems single, unbranched. Basal leaf petiole 5--10 mm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 8--14(--20) X 2--4 cm, sparsely pubescent along veins on both surfaces, pinnatifid to pinnatipartite; segments 14--18 pairs, triangular-ovate to lanceolate, margin double dentate. Stem leaves 4--6, alternate, similar to basal leaves but smaller. Inflorescences racemose, to 35 cm, many flowered; bracts leaflike, proximal ones longer than flowers. Pedicel 1--3.5(--4) cm, elongating in fruit, slender, densely pubescent. Calyx 6--8 mm, sparsely long pubescent, 1/2 cleft anteriorly; lobes 3, unequal, ca. 1/4 as long as tube, posterior lobe small, entire, lateral lobes dentate, sparsely pubescent. Corolla white to purple-red, 1.8--2.2 cm; tube erect, 1.2--1.4 cm; galea ± bent at a right angle apically, clearly crested; beak pointing forward and bent downward near apex; lower lip long ciliate. Filaments pubescent. Capsule oblique-ovoid, 8--10 mm. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

* Alpine meadows; 2500--4200 m. SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan.