Stems 50-100 cm, glabrous. Leaves opposite; petiole 5-14 mm; leaf blade elliptic to obovate, lanceolate or oblong, 10-20 X 4.4-10.5 cm, papery to leathery, glabrous, adaxially drying smooth, abaxially sparsely punctate, base cuneate to rounded, margin entire, apex abruptly acuminate to acuminate or acute; lateral veins indistinct. Cymes axillary, 5-15-flowered; peduncle 1-3 cm; bracts persistent, pink to red, elliptic to ovate, 4-5.5 X 2-3 cm. Pedicel 0.8-1.2 cm, glabrous. Calyx orange-red to red, 5-sect from base; segments linear to lanceolate, 2-3 cm X 3.5-7 mm, outside glabrous. Corolla orange-red to dark red with darker stripes, 5.5-8.5 cm, outside glabrous, inside sparsely puberulent, without tufts of hairs, mouth oblique; limb indistinctly 2-lipped; adaxial lip erect, 1-1.6 cm; abaxial lip reflexed, 1-1.6 cm. Stamens exserted; filaments 3.2-3.5 cm; anthers coherent in pairs at apex, 3-4 mm; staminode ca. 1.5 mm. Pistil 4.2-7.6 cm; ovary with a few short hairs. Style 6-8 mm, sparsely puberulent. Capsule 32-52 cm. Seeds with 1 hairlike appendage at each end, appendages 4-8 mm. Fl. Aug-Sep.

On trees in forests; 1000-2500 m. SE Xizang (Mêdog Xian), SE and W Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, N Myanmar].