Perennials, 10-15 cm tall, sparsely rusty-red villous with long multicellular hairs. Roots many, fibrous. Rhizomes slender, to 9 cm. Stems 1-2, erect, herbaceous, purple, longitudinally striate. Basal leaves caudate. Stem leaves 4-6, mostly crowded apically on stem, lower stems leafless or with 1 or 2 smaller leaves; petiole 1.5-4 cm, stout; leaf blade elliptic-ovate to oblong-ovate, 4-8 cm, papery, abaxially purple, base broadly cuneate, margin irregularly sinuate-toothed, apex acute. Racemes terminal, ascending, to 8-11 cm, slender, 1-5-flowered; bracts linear-lanceolate, apex acute. Pedicel shorter than calyx. Calyx campanulate, 5-8 mm; lobes ca. 1/3 as long as calyx, veins inconspicuous. Corolla purple ca. 2 cm; lower lip lobes subequal, apex obtuse and praemorse; upper lip lobes triangular. Ovary glabrous. Capsule ovoid. Fl. and fr. May-Jun.