Herbs annual, barely 8 cm tall, not drying black. Roots long conical, ± woody. Stems 0.1--3 cm tall, numerous, cespitose, white pubescent. Leaves mostly basal; petiole 0.5--2 cm, sheathlike dilated base, slightly pubescent; leaf blade ovate-lanceolate, 1--1.5 cm, pinnatifid or entire; segments 3--9 pairs, crenate-dentate, abaxially whitish pubescent, adaxially densely pubescent. Flowers axillary, 1--14-flowered. Pedicel 3--7 mm, densely long whitish pubescent. Calyx 1.2--1.5 cm X ca. 5 mm, densely white pubescent, 1/3 cleft anteriorly; lobes 5, unequal. Corolla dark purple throughout or some with pale yellow tube, purple galea, and white lower lip; tube 2.8--3.4 cm, pubescent; galea falcate; beak ± S-shaped, ca. 8 mm, not 2-cleft at apex; lower lip 2--2.4 cm wide, middle lobe oblong-ovate, much smaller than lateral pair. Filaments pubescent. Capsule obliquely oblong, ca. 2 X as long as calyx. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Jul--Sep.

Meadows, steep rocky slopes among dwarf Rhododendron, cliff faces; 3600--4900 m. S and SE Xizang [Bhutan, Sikkim]