Herbs up to 1 m. high or more, 4 mm. in diameter at about the middle, subquadrangular, glabrous or bifariously pubescent at tip, the hairs yellowish, retrorsely curved, up to 0.5 mm, long, conspicu- ously jointed (under lens); leaf blades oblong-elliptic, up to 16 cm. long and 5.5 cm. wide, acuminate, the tip itself bluntish, narrowed at base, moderately firm, entire, the upper surface hirsute with yellowish jointed curved hairs up to 0.75 mm. long, the lower surface more densely hirsute with similar hairs, these on both surfaces confined mostly to the veins and veinlets, the costa and lateral veins (about 14 pairs) prominent, the veinlets conspicuously and rather coarsely reticulate; petioles 2.5 cm. long, the channels hirsute with hairs similar to those of the leaf blades, the lower rounded portion glabrous; flowers borne in large open leafy terminal panicles, the branches densely and bifariously pilose with yellowish jointed spreading retrorse hairs up to 1 mm. long, the bracts subtending the ultimate branches subulate, 5 mm. or less long, acuminate, 1 mm. broad at base, ciliate, sparingly and minutely hirsute with hairs up to 0.5 mm. long; pedicels 5 mm. long, about 0.75 mm. thick, these and the calyx moderately hirsute with yellowish spreading or retrorse jointed hairs up to 0.5 mm. long, some of these gland-tipped; calyx 8 mm. long, the segments oblong, about 7 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, acute; corolla 2 cm. long, yellow, sparingly pubescent the hairs more or less spreading, about 0.16 mm. long, the base of the corolla tube 2 mm. broad, 2.75 mm. broad at 2 mm. above base, then narrowed to 2.5 mm., thence en-larged to 6 mm. at mouth, the throat moderately saccate, the upper lip narrowly linear, 8 mm. long and 2 mm. wide at base, acute, the lower lip triangular-ovate, 8 mm. long, 5 mm. wide, 3-lobed at tip, the lobes about 0.25 mm. long and 0.5 mm. broad; stamens exserted 5 mm. beyond the mouth of the corolla tube; anthers linear-oblong, 2.5 mm. long and 1 mm, broad, minutely apiculate at base; ovary glabrous; disk 1 mm. high; capsules not seen.
Type in the Herbarium of the Botanical Museum of the University of Copenhagen, collected at Nuñez, Department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, 2400 meters altitude, June 11, 1952, by M. Køie (No. 4671).
The specific epithet is from the Greek tartós, yellow, and @pi, hair.