It is native to Nevada and eastern California where it grows in dry areas in local mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada and the desert ranges adjacent.

It is a perennial herb producing clusters of erect stems that often exceed one meter tall.

The inflorescence is a wide-open panicle with several hairy, glandular branches bearing flowers.

The flower has a spherical corolla opening at the top into a hoodlike, lobed mouth.

The corolla is just under a centimeter long and is whitish at the base and deep red around the mouth and on the lobes.