Herbs annual, to 1 m tall, drying black. Stems woody when old, many branched; branches in whorls of 3--6, with lines of hairs. Leaves in whorls of 3--6; petiole to 1.2 cm; leaf blade lanceolate-oblong, to 8 cm, pinnatisect; segments 7--11 pairs, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, abaxially subglabrous, adaxially sparsely pubescent, pinnatipartite or incised-double dentate. Inflorescences to 20 cm, lax, interrupted; bracts leaflike, longer than flowers or distal ones ca. as long as flowers. Pedicel ca. 3 mm. Calyx ca. 6 mm; lobes 5, unequal, pubescent. Corolla rose to purple, barely 1.6 cm; tube ca. 1 cm, strongly curved in calyx; galea straight, ca. 1/2 as long as tube, not crested; lower lip ca. 6 X 7.5 mm, middle lobe rounded. Filaments glabrous. Fl. Jul--Aug, fr. Sep--Oct.