Short-lived perennial; stems to c. 60 cm tall, becoming woody at base, simple or branched. Lvs shortly petiolate. Lamina 20-50 × 3-15 mm, usually linear to lanceolate, occasionally broader, glabrous; base narrowly cuneate. Fls in long, terminal, densely glandular-hairy, rather compact racemes; peduncle long, often = flowering part. Bracts 5-9 mm long, ovate. Calyx 5-8 mm long, deeply lobed, glandular-hairy; lobes elliptic to suborbicular or broad-ovate, equal. Corolla 30-40 mm long to apex of erect upper lip, usually purple or rose, sometimes yellow, whitish or bicoloured, glandular-hairy outside; tube 3-4× calyx, c. 1 cm wide; lobes large and rounded, with recurved margins, the middle lobe of lower lip not concealed; upper lip emarginate. Capsule (8)-12-15 mm long, ovoid or ovoid-oblong, densely glandular-hairy. Seeds c. 1 mm long, oblong, dark, strongly rugose with irregular ridges.