Herbs perennial, 20--60 cm tall, curry-scented when dry. Stems ascending to erect from creeping base, herbaceous, angular or narrowly winged. Leaves alternate; upper leaves often 1--2 X as large as lower leaves; petiole 5--12 mm; leaf blade broadly ovate to elliptic, 4--11 X 2--6 cm, sparsely minutely brown glandular, base attenuate to broadly cuneate, margin obscurely undulate, apex acute to subobtuse and apiculate; veins 3 or 4 pairs; veinlets inconspicuous. Pedicel 2.5--4 cm. Flowers solitary, axillary. Calyx lobes ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 7--12 X 2.5--5 mm, ± minutely brown glandular, apex acuminate to subulate. Corolla yellow, 1.2--1.7 cm, 2--3.5 cm in diam., deeply parted; lobes oblong, 11--16 X 6--9 mm, apex obtuse. Filaments connate basally into a ca. 0.5 mm high ring, free parts very short; anthers 4--5 mm, basifixed, opening by apical pores. Capsule subglobose, 6--7 mm in diam. Fl. May.
Wet mixed forests, streams in mountain valleys, humus-rich soils; 800--1700 m. N Guangdong, Guangxi, SW Hunan, SE Yunnan.