General:
Perennial herb from a somewhat woody stem-base; stems several, clustered, erect or ascending, 10-30 (50) cm tall, unbranched, nearly smooth to thinly long-soft-hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, lanceolate, 1.5-5 cm long, nearly smooth to sparsely soft-hairy, all except the lowermost cleft into 3 to 5 lateral lobes, the lobes usually much narrower than the mid-blade.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a prominently bracted terminal spike, the bracts rose-pink, magenta, crimson or sometimes whitish, lanceolate to egg-shaped, 3- to 5-lobed, long-soft-hairy, about as long as the flowers; corollas greenish, 12-25 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip beak-like, minutely hairy, 3-7 mm long, about as long as the tube and 3 or more times as long as the thickened, 3-toothed, lower lip; calyces 10-20 mm long, 2-lobed, these primary lobes again divided into 2 segments 3-6 mm long, coloured like the bracts; stamens 4.
Fruits:
Capsules, egg-shaped, smooth, 8-11 mm long; seeds many, the seed-coats loose and net-veined.