Soft-hairy perennial; stems usually clustered, simple, 1–4 dm, very leafy; principal cauline lvs 3–5 cm, cleft to below the middle into 3 lance-linear divergent lobes, the middle lobe sometimes again cleft; spikes dense, 3–5 cm; bracts like the lvs but somewhat smaller, green or sometimes pink-tipped; cal 25–40 mm, cleft to about the middle, each half also cleft into 2 linear-attenuate segments 8–14 mm; cor curved, exserted from the bracts, purplish to yellow or white, 35–55 mm, the galea 9–12 mm, the lobes of the lower lip 5–6 mm; 2n=24. Dry prairies and plains; Wis. and n. Ill. to Sask., s. to Mo., Tex., and Ariz. May–July.