Eerect or diffused, small herb; stem angular up to 40 cm high, covered with soft, white hairs; leaves sessile or shortly petioled, ovate, elliptic or lanceolate, acute to acuminate at apex, narrowed at base, entire, nearly glabrous or pubescent; flowers in imperfectly unilateral spikes; bracts dimorphic, broadly elliptic, scarious or ciliate on margins; flowerless bracts more often cuspidate, mucronate, hairy; bracteoles elliptic-lanceolate, scarsely acute; calyx segments 3 partite, divided up to the base, sepals-5, linear-subulate, pubescent; corolla blue, pink or purple, pubescent outside, throat pink or motted; stamens 2, anthers 2 celled, cells superposed, lower cell often with a white basal appendage; pistil pubescent with 2-carpels, 2-celled, 2-10 ovuled, style fusiform, stigma bilobed; capsules shortly stalked, obovoid, mucronate, pubescent on the margin; seeds-4, compressed, broadly orbicular, yellow-brown, funiculus modified into hook like structure.