Herbs annual, 7--15 cm tall, pubescent, drying ± black. Stems single, erect, unbranched, slender, with 4 lines of hairs. Basal leaves often withering early; petiole to 1 cm. Stem leaves few, in whorls of 4, sometimes opposite; petiole ca. 5 mm, villous; leaf blade ovate-oblong, 8--11 X 4--6 mm, pubescent on both surfaces, abaxially sparsely scurfy, pinnatifid; segments 6 or 7 pairs, oblong, margin ± entire. Inflorescences spicate, 3--6 cm, 5--11-flowered, flowers opposite, interrupted; bracts leaflike, slightly longer than calyx. Pedicel ca. 2 mm. Calyx 8--10 mm, membranous, slightly cleft anteriorly; lobes 5, unequal, posterior lobe triangular, entire, others ovate, dentate. Corolla purplish red, ca. 2.5 cm; tube erect, slightly exceeding calyx; galea falcate apically, ca. as long as tube, with 3 or 4 marginal teeth on each side near acute apex; lower lip shorter than galea, margin serrulate, middle lobe emarginate. Filaments glabrous.