Herbs perennial, cespitose, 12--20 cm tall, pubescent. Rootstock fleshy. Basal leaves in a rosette; petiole 1--4 cm; leaf blade lanceolate-oblong, abaxially tomentose, pinnatipartite; segments to 15 pairs, pinnatifid, serrulate. Stem leaves in only 2 whorls, proximal ones opposite, distal ones in whorls of 3, ± sessile. Inflorescences spicate, compactly arranged, with dense whitish tomentum, ca. 15-flowered; bracts ovate or lanceolate, distal ones smaller, abaxially densely tomentose. Calyx 1.1--1.7 cm, densely whitish tomentose; lobes 5, unequal, short, entire, triangular. Corolla deep carmine; tube slightly longer than calyx, straight in calyx, bent at a right angle apically; galea rounded, truncate at apex; lower lip ca. as long as galea. Filaments glabrous. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Jul--Aug.

* Gravelly slopes on mountain summits; 4700--5100 m. W Gansu, E Qinghai.