Perennial herb, up to 0.6 m high. Stems several arising annually from a woody rootstock; slender, sparsely branched, hispidulous. Leaves tufted, subsessile; blade obovate-oblong to narrowly elliptic, 10-18 x 2-8 mm, apex rounded, base acute, margins often with a few teeth near apex, stellate-pubescent on both surfaces. Flowers: in a lax panicle, verticils 2-flowered; calyx 5-toothed, glandular-hispid, tube setose in throat; corolla 12-13 mm long, white, tube 8-9 mm long; Nov.-Mar.