Erect shrubby herb to 1.3 m tall; young branches curly-puberulous or sparsely so, eventually pale yellow and with exfoliating bark. Leaves ovate to elliptic, largest 3–8≈1.4–3 cm, more than twice as long as wide or about the same, apex acute, base cuneate, decurrent into a distinct petiole to 8 mm long with long broad glossy hairs on edges, uniformly curly puberulous or sparsely so on both sides, margin dentate, venation beneath distinctly raised, reticulate; stipule sheath 1.5–3 mm long. Flowers in few- to many-flowered condensed widely separated axillary cymes; outer bracts foliaceous, to 2 cm long; inner bracts oblong, to 1 cm long, uniformly puberulous or sparsely so and with long broad glossy hairs along midrib and on margins; bracteoles similar, to 8 mm long, with scattered subsessile capitate glands. Calyx 6–8(–10 in fruit) mm long, uniformly finely puberulous and with scattered to dense long broad glossy hairs along midrib and on lobes, with scattered short-stalked capitate glands, tube 4–6 mm long; teeth triangular, acute, dorsal 2–3 mm long, ventral 2–3 mm long of which the free part 1–2 mm. Corolla white, 12–14 mm long, finely sericeous-puberulous; tube 7–8 mm long of which the throat ± 2 mm; lips 4–5 mm long; lobes oblong, ± 2 mm wide, emarginate; palate without long hairs. Filaments 2–4 mm long, with a few hairs near base; anthers ± 1.5 mm long, rounded at both ends, connective with subsessile glands. Dorsal stigma lobe about half the length of ventral. Capsule and seed not seen.
