Perennial herbs. Leaves in our species mainly basal. Cauline leaves alternate or (in our species) sometimes absent. Inflorescence a dense spike, sometimes head-like (as in our species). Calyx slightly cleft anteriorly; lobes 5. Corolla tube longer than calyx; middle lobe of lower lip shallowly emarginate; galea shortly beaked (in our species), with 2 deflexed teeth on anterior side. – About 16 species, several of them divided into infraspecific taxa; Europe, Asia, North America; one species in Pakistan.