[1] It is native to the west coast of the United States from Washington to the Klamath Mountains of far northern California, where it grows in rocky mountainous habitat.

It is a clumpy, mat-forming subshrub growing no more than 14 centimeters high.

The thick, waxy, oppositely arranged leaves are round or oval and up to 2 centimeters long.

The showy wide-mouthed tubular flowers emerging from the mat may be nearly 4 centimeters in length and are shades of light purple to bright pink.

[2] It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.