Shrubby herb or shrub to 1 m tall, basal part of stem sometimes creeping and rooting; stems fleshy, with 2 longitudinal bands of hairs when young, otherwise glabrous. Leaves with petiole up to 2 cm long; lamina elliptic or narrowly so, long-decurrent on the petiole, largest 13–26≈3.2–5.5 cm, apex acuminate, glabrous. Spikes 5–17 cm long; peduncle 1–2 cm long, glabrous to puberulous; rachis puberulous, flattened; flowers opposite; bracts lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 5–8 mm long, glabrous, reflexed; bracteoles 8–12 mm long, elliptic, obtuse, finely puberulous along edges, 3–5-veined. Dorsal and ventral sepals 8–11 mm long, glabrous, with numerous strong veins, dorsal ovate, ventral broadly so or elliptic, lateral sepals linear, 6–8 mm long, 1-veined. Corolla blue to purple or white, glandular hairy at base of lip and in a ventral band in upper half of tube; tube 8–11 mm long; limb 5–7 mm long, deflexed and curved backwards. Anthers ± 3.5 mm long. Capsule 10–11 mm long, glabrous. Seed 4–5 mm long, irregularly ellipsoid- circular, sparsely tuberculate. Fig. 24, p. 152.