Herbs or shrubs up to 2 meters high; stems subtetragonal, glabrous or the upper portions sparingly to moderately strigose, the hairs more or less in two rows; leaf blades oblong-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, up to 25 cm. long and 11 cm. wide, acute to short-acuminate or occasion- ally obtuse at apex, acute to obtuse or rounded and more or less oblique at base, rather firm, entire or undulate, glabrous or the costa and lateral veins (8 to 12 pairs) sparingly strigose, the venation prominent beneath, less so above, the cystoliths numerous, conspicuous under a lens, about 0.28 mm. long; petioles rather stout, up to 6 cm. long, glabrous or sparingly strigose; spikes solitary and terminal or sometimes both terminal and axillary, up to 11 cm. long, 2 cm. broad, the peduncles usually about 5 mm. long, these and the rachis puber- ulous; bracts obovate, averaging 17 mm. long and 8 mm. wide, obtuse at tip, narrowed to 3 mm. at base, firm, entire, minutely puberulous and ciliolate, veiny, the costa and about 6 pairs of lateral veins prom- inent, the veinlets coarsely reticulate; bractlets oblong-lanceolate, 10 mm. long, 3 mm. wide, subacute, 1.75 mm. wide at base, minutely puberulous and ciliolate, the costa and lateral veins (3 or 4 pairs) prominent; calyx 12 mm. long, deeply segmented, minutely punctate and ciliolate, the segments oblong-lanceolate, 10 mm. long, 2.75 mm. wide; corollas 3 cm. long, blue, lined with white, puberulous except the enlarged glabrous basal portion, this 4 mm. broad at base, the corolla tube narrowed at 7 mm. above base to 3 mm., thence gradually enlarged to 4 mm. at mouth, the upper lip erect, ovate, 15 mm. long, 5 mm. wide, narrowed to an obtuse tip, the lower lip spreading, 15 mm. long, ovate, suborbicular, 3-lobed, the middle lobe 3.5 mm. long and 4 mm. wide, rounded, the lateral lobes 3 mm. wide, obtuse, some- what oblique; stamens exserted 12 mm. beyond the mouth of the corolla tube, the anthers 3.5 mm. long, the lobes superposed vertically or nearly so, the upper lobe muticous, dorsally densely pubescent, the lower lobe glabrous, calcarate, the tail blunt, about 0.75 mm. long, the filaments flattened, glabrous; capsules clavate, 16 to 18 mm. long, 5 mm. wide, 3.5 mm. thick, acute, finely puberulous; retinacula ligulate, 2.5 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide, the tip thin, whitish, rounded; seed 4 mm. long, 3.25 mm. wide, 1 mm. thick, brown, tuberculate.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 2045848, collected along stream at San Antonio, Department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, 200 meters altitude, June 14, 1948, by Oscar Haught (No. 6242). Other collections are:
ANTIOQUIA: Dry rocks of Río Magdalena at Angostura de Nare, André 447 (K). CUNDINAMARCA: Hacienda Paramillo, on road between Guaduas and Alto de Aguaclara, 1,040-1,320 meters altitude, July 24, 1947, Garcia-Barriga 12353 (US); 12646 (US).
SANTANDER: San Juan Valley in the vicinity of Puerto Berrío, between Carare and Magdalena Rivers, 100-700 meters altitude, June 15, 1935, Haught 1788 (US); June 24, 1935, Haught 1807 (US). Along stream in forest at San Fernando, between Puerto Berrío and Río Carare, 300 meters altitude, June 30, 1939, Haught 2853 (US).
TOLIMA: Cañón del Río Gualí, on the road from Fresno to Falán, 1,120-1,700 meters altitude, December 5, 1939, Garcia-Barriga 8341 (US). Falán, region of "Calamonte," 1,120 meters altitude, December 7, 1939, Garcia-Barriga 8346 (US). WITHOUT LOCALITY: Mutis 892 (US); 1503 (US).
García-Barriga (No. 12353) describes the flowers of his collection as being "amarillas." This may possibly be an error since some of the bluish coloration still remains in one of the dried corollas. Aside from this possible color variation, García-Barriga's specimen is identical with the other specimens cited. The flowers of Haught's No. 1807 were rose, lined with white, showing that there is some color variation.