Herbs annual or biennial. Stems rarely prostrate or ascending, (8-)10-20 cm or more tall, villous or pilose, base purplish. Basal leaves absent or few; petiole 1-1.5 cm, to 2.5 cm in basal leaves, narrowly winged, sometimes purplish green; leaf blade obovate, broadly elliptic to subcircular or spatulate, 2-4.5 × 1.5-2.5 cm, sparsely strigose or pilose, base cuneate-decurrent, margin dentate to undulate-crenate, ciliate, apex obtuse. Verticillasters many flowered, apical ones in crowded terminal spikes; apical floral leaves bractlike, ovate to broadly lanceolate, 0.8-1.5 cm, margin entire to incised. Calyx campanulate, 3-5 mm, villous apically and on margin; teeth triangular, to 1/2 as long as calyx, apically acuminate. Corolla bluish or blue-purple, rarely whitish, with dark lines, tubular, (6-)8-11 mm, base slightly swollen, sparsely pubescent, villous annulate inside; upper lip straight, 2-lobed; middle lobe of lower lip flabellate, with apex truncate to emarginate, lateral lobes narrowly oblong. Nutlets areole to 3/5 as long as adaxial side of nutlet. Fl. Apr-Jun (E China), Dec-Mar (SW China), fr. Jan-May.
Field margins, wet areas on grasslands, sunny slopes, forests; at elevations from 100-2,300 metres. Open, more or less dry meadows; at elevations up to 1,000 metres.
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