Perennials, 20-50 cm tall, stout, white villous. Roots fibrous, to 20 cm, primary root considerably shorter. Stems erect or ascending, terete, woody near base, sometimes branched. Basal leaves mostly in a rosette, often deciduous; leaf blade obovate-spatulate. Stem leaves opposite, petiolate; leaf blade ovate-spatulate, 3.5-10 cm, papery, base tapering, margin coarsely irregularly serrate, sometimes shallowly lobed. Racemes terminal, lax, to 35 cm; bracts ovate-triangular, apex acute. Pedicel 0.8-1.5 cm. Calyx funnelform, ca. 1.3 cm in fruit, over 1 cm in diam.; lobes almost as long as tube, ovate-lanceolate, apex acute, veins 10. Corolla light blue-purple, ca. 2 X as long as calyx; lower lip middle lobe exserted and smaller than lateral lobes; upper lip lobes apically acute. Ovary hairy. Capsule globose. Seeds brown. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Aug.