Erect, taprooted biennial with stems to c. 1 m tall. Basal or rosette lvs to c. 30 cm long, with petiole to c. 1/2 length of lamina; lamina oblanceolate or oblong, gradually attenuate to base, crenate, hairy above and below or nearly glabrous above; cauline lvs becoming smaller towards infl.; middle cauline lvs 8-20 × 1-3 cm, oblong or lanceolate-oblong, crenate, sessile and amplexicaul. Infl. a long, terminal, racemose panicle; peduncles long, foliose, bracteate, hispid; pedicels short, densely hispid; bracteoles foliose, to c. 2.5 cm long. Calyx 1.5-2.8 cm long, deeply lobed, hispid, mainly on margins; lobes lanceolate; appendages 7-11 mm long, broad-ovate, deeply cordate at base, reflexed. Corolla 4-5 × 2-3.5 cm (larger in cultivated plants), tubular-campanulate, ventricose below, usually violet or purplish; lobes 5-10 mm long, ± triangular, reflexed. Stigmas 5. Capsule c. 2 cm long, 5-celled, ± broadly obovoid, dehiscing at base.