Biennial to perennial, (25-) 60-180 cm, occasionally flowering in first year; stem ± densely short-tomentose above, often subglabrous towards base. Basal leaves with long winged petiole, lamina ovate to lanceolate, 4-30 x 2-13 cm, ± rugose, crenate to serrate, ± hairy above and beneath, with usually a mixture of glandular and eglandular hairs. Raceme simple or slightly branched, many-flowered, secund; bracts variable. Cultivated as a medicinal herb in Pakistan and sometimes occurring as an escape in forest clearings, from 1525 to 2670 m; usually calcifuge.