Perennial with a musty or aromatic smell, extremely variable in almost all characters. Stems erect or ascending, 30-120 cm, much branched or rarely simple, leafy, with a range of hair types, from soft pilose to crisped to retrorse. Leaves very variable in size, colour and indumentum, 2-8 x 0.5-3 cm, broadly ovate to lanceolate to narrow oblong-elliptic, green, white or discolorous, serrulate to coarsely dentate, cordate, rounded or cuneate, ± acute, sessile or lower leaves shortly petiolate, densely to lightly gland-dotted on abaxial surface. Inflorescence of usually numerous congested many-flowered verticillasters forming terminal spikes, few or numerous. Bracts linear to linear-subulate, as long as to longer than flowers. Calyx 1.5-3 mm, narrow campanulate, softly pilose with eglandular hairs, with or without oil globules; teeth subequal, narrow triangular to linear-subulate, shorter than to as long as tube. Corolla 3-4.5 mm, light purple, violet, mauve or white. Nutlets c. 0.8 x 0.6 mm, ovoid, apically rounded, pale to dark brown, delicately reticulate, slightly mucilaginous on wetting.