Perennial herb with a variable woody base, glandular or non-glandular pubescent, 20–60 cm tall, with erect, simple or branched stems. Leaves are petiolate, becoming subsessile to sessile in the upper parts of the plant, ovate to deltoid, coarsely dentate, obtuse, 1–3 cm long and 0.5–2 cm wide. Inflorescence is terminal, in the form of a spike. Calyx is tubular, about 5–8 mm long, with five short triangular lobes. Corolla is bilabiate and bicolored, with shades of purplish red to dark orange externally and bright yellow to orange internally and is three to four times as long as the calyx. Flowers have two pairs of unequal-length, included stamens. Fruits are capsules, usually glandular-pubescent.