Perennial herb, woody below, branches pubescent; leaves broadly oblong to ovate, obtuse, narrow at base, acuminate at apex, coarsely crenate, variously colored with dull red or purple; petioles 2-4 cm long; flowers 5-6 in lax verticillasters, terminal; pedicels as long as the calyx; bracts, petiolate, minute, caducous; calyx obliquely campanulate, short, 2-lower teeth very long, awned, longer than broadly oblong upper, laterals broadly ovate, shorter than the lower, fruiting calyx broadly campanulate, membranous on slender pedicels, broadly campanulate, membranous; corolla purple-blue or sometimes white, very small, hardly longer than calyx; stamens-4, didynamous, exserted, declinate, filaments free or lower connate below, knee villous, anthers 2-celled, confluent; ovary 4-lobed, style inserted in lobes, subulate or flattened; nutlets subglobose, slightly hairy, compressed, nearly smooth, pale redish brown.