Biennial herb; stems to c. 80 cm high, glabrous except near infl. Rosette lvs (4)-5-14 × 1.5-5 cm, shortly petiolate, oblong or ovate-oblong, glabrous or very slightly puberulent below, coarsely and irregularly crenate or dentate; base attenuate; apex acute, obtuse or mucronate. Stem lvs usually smaller, sessile, the uppermost occasionally almost entire. Infl. simple, moderately loose, to 50 cm high, glandular-hairy. Fls solitary in the axils. Pedicels 6-12 mm long at anthesis, > the lanceolate or ovate bracts. Calyx 5-7 mm long at anthesis, lobed nearly to base; lobes lanceolate to oblong, entire, glandular-hairy, especially on margins; apex acute or acuminate. Corolla 2.5-4 cm diam., usually red in bud, white or cream with pink tinge on the outside at anthesis, less often yellow; lobes rounded. Stamens 5; filaments purple-villous; lower 2 stamens with anthers obliquely inserted and decurrent. Capsule 5-8 mm diam., globular or nearly so, exserted from calyx. Seeds ± cylindric to oblong, sometimes almost square, longitudinally ridged and transversely furrowed; apex truncate.