Herbs perennial, 3.5--12 cm tall, drying black. Roots fleshy, fusiform. Stems single, unbranched. Basal leaves few, 1--4. Petiole 2--6 cm. Stem leaves 1--3, linear-lanceolate, 2--3 cm X 2.5--5 mm, pinnatifid; segments 12--25 pairs, ovate-lanceolate, sinuate-dentate. Inflorescences racemose, 2--5-flowered; bracts leaflike, ca. 1.6 cm. Pedicel short. Calyx ca. 1.3 cm, glabrous, slightly cleft anteriorly; lobes 5, lanceolate, equal. Corolla purple-red; tube 1.6--1.8 cm; galea falcate; beak ca. 3.5 mm, truncate apically, denticulate; lower lip ca. 1.6 cm wide, glabrous, sinuate-dentate. Filaments pubescent apically. Capsule obliquely lanceolate, ca. 2 cm X 7.5 mm. Fl. Jun--Aug, fr. Aug.

Alpine meadows; 3800--4800 m. S and SE Xizang [Bhutan, Nepal]