This plant, up to 15 cm tall, has short and glabrous stem, leafy in the lower part, prostrate, ascendent or suberect.

The blade can be more or less elongated, from rounded to lanceolate, with crenate margin.

Flower has a big corolla, 2 to 4 cm wide, of various colors: almost yellow in the center, usually with dark violet veins, the outer parts can be violet, blue, yellow or white.

Studies suggest that as the alpine climate becomes hotter, it is likely to be more challenged than most plants.

In the Swiss Alps, for instance, it is projected to go extinct around 2050 even under the more optimistic climate change scenarios.