An erect up to 3(-4) m tall shrub with densely hairy young shoots. Leaves shortly petioled or nearly sessile, lamina elliptic to lanceolate-oblong, 6-20 (-22) x 3-8 cm, glabrous-scabrid above, softly hairy beneath, entire or undulate, base attenuate, long acuinate at apex. Flowers sessile, scarlet-red or purplish-red, 3.5-5 cm long, in terminal, upto 20 cm long, dense spike; bracts green, elliptic, 8-15 x 4-6 mm, acuinate, densely hairy to glabrate, with 2 clusters of ± marginal glands on either side of midrib; bracteoles lanceolate. Calyx lobes lanceolate, 6-10 mm long, hairy. Corolla puberulous outside, tube 2.5-3 cm long; upper lip 2-lobed, c. 1 cm long, erect; lower lip longer than upper, 3-lobed, middle lobe larger than lateral. Capsule elliptic-oblong, 10-15 mm long, glabrous to ± puberulous. Seeds dark brown.

Fl. Per.: November-February.

Type: Mexico, Schiede & Deppe (B-Destroyed).

Distribution: A native of tropical America; introduced elsewhere in gardens.

In Pakistan, grown in the gardens of the Punjab plains for its beautiful, showy flowers.