Shrubby herb or shrub to 1 m tall; young branches and petioles whitish pubescent (sometimes in two bands only) or densely sericeous. Leaves sparsely pubescent, mainly along veins, lamina often glabrous; petiole 2-13 mm long; lamina narrowly elliptic to elliptic or narrowly ovate to ovate, largest 3-7 x 1-3.3 cm, 1/b-ratio 2.3-4.1; apex acute to rounded; base attenuate. Spikes (2-)5-17 cm long; peduncle 3-8 mm long, densely whitish pubescent and ± stalked capitate glands; axes pubescent to densely so with non-glandular shiny hairs and long-stalked capitate glands. Bracts greenish with red to purplish veins, elliptic to obovate or broadly so, folded round the ripening fruit; lower 10-15(-20) x 7-13 mm, acumen 1-2 mm long, sharp, recurved; upper pubescent or sparsely so with non-glandular shiny hairs and long-stalked (longest 0.5-1 mm long) capitate glands, these most conspicuous near edges, usually not ciliate, veins as in M. revoluta; bracteoles 1-2 mm long. Calyx (6-)7-10 mm long, pubescent or densely so with long-stalked shiny capitate glands and non-glandular shiny hairs. Corolla pale blue or bright blue to deep blue (royal blue); tube 10-14 mm long; lobes 12-14 mm long, middle in lower lip 3-4 mm wide; filaments 6-8 mm long. Capsule 10-15 mm long, puberulous in upper half; seed 4-5.5 x 3.5-4 mm, greyish, almost smooth to rugose, with glandular glochidiate hairs, rim entire to crenulate.
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