Herbs perennial, 15--30 cm tall, drying slightly black. Roots fleshy. Stems single, erect, unbranched, sparsely long pubescent. Basal leaves withering early. Stem leaves numerous, alternate, pubescent; petiole 1.5--4 cm, narrowly winged, ciliate; leaf blade linear to oblong, 2.5--6 X ca. 1 cm, pinnatisect or pinnatipartite; segments 10--18 pairs, ovate or triangular, incised-dentate. Flowers axillary. Pedicel erect, ca. 5 mm, slender. Calyx cylindric, 1.2--1.8 cm, papery, scabrous pubescent, deeply cleft anteriorly, usually 2-lobed, pinnatifid to ± palmately lobed. Corolla rose; tube 3--5 cm, pubescent; galea strongly twisted, narrowly crested, glabrous; beak S-shaped, ca. 1 cm, slender; lower lip ciliate, middle lobe entire, ± rounded. 2 filaments pubescent, 2 glabrous. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Sep.