Herbs perennial, 10(--15) cm tall, drying black. Roots numerous. Stems usually single, stout, pubescent. Basal leaf petiole to 5.5 cm; leaf blade lanceolate, 2--6 X ca. 1.2 cm, abaxially white scurfy, tinged with purple along veins, pinnatisect; segments 11--18 pairs, oblong or obovate, sparsely ciliate, incised-dentate. Stem leaves 1--3 or absent, alternate. Inflorescences 3--10 cm, dense; proximal bracts leaflike, pubescent. Pedicel to 4 mm or almost absent, wide. Calyx 1--1.2 cm; lobes 5, lateral lobes ca. 1/2 as long as tube, unequal. Corolla yellow, with purple-red galea, 2.3--2.8 cm; tube slightly bowed and expanded apically, slightly longer than calyx; galea bent apically, 1--1.4 cm; lower lip shorter than galea, sparsely ciliate. 2 filaments pubescent apically, 2 glabrous throughout. Fl. Jun--Aug, fr. Sep.

Alpine meadows; (3600--)4300--4500 m. S Xizang (Chumbi Xian), NW Yunnan [Bhutan].