Compact herbaceous perennial from a woody rhizome; stems 1-5, 10-30(32) cm high, 1.0-2.3 mm in diameter at the base, finely puberulent; leaves moderately thick, opaque, minutely puberulent and soon glabrescent or puberulent merely on the midvein, faintly glaucescent; basal leaves petiolate, 5-18 mm wide, 15-50 mm long, spatulate to broadly elliptic, entire, usually forming a basal rosette persistent at anthesis; stem leaves sessile, entire, usually somewhat revolute, the lowest narrowly lanceolate, becoming linear and more noticeably puberulent and slightly glandular toward the inflorescence, 0.8-5.0 mm wide, 18-42 mm long; inflorescence a virgate, somewhat secund, verticillate thyrse of opposing cymules (often only one of a pair developed), evidently glandular, 3-10 flowers, lower bracts puberulent and glandular, 0.8-5.0 mm wide, 9-34 mm long, reduced to about 2 mm long toward the top of the inflorescence, peduncles about half as thick as the main rachis, somewhat longer than the ultimate pedicels, cymules ascending, bracteoles minute; calyx green, tinged with purple, 1.5-2.0 mm wide, 3.5-5.0 mm long, lobes lance-ovate and slightly scarious-margined, glandular; corollas mostly ascending, rarely horizontal but never drooping, (11)12-17 mm long, 3-6 mm wide at the orifice, externally moderately glandular, gradually but little expanded and not inflated, pale lavender at base deepening to blue-purple at the lobes, lobes extending along the axis of the tube or hardly spreading, the anterior hardly exceeding the posterior, the throat open, the lower lip bearded with moderately long white hairs, the floor glabrous and obscurely ridged; anther sacs opposite after dehiscence, opening almost throughout, not explanate, longer than wide, not dentate along the suture; staminode not enlarged distally, usually included, densely pectinate-bearded its length with stiff golden hairs. Flowers July and August.