Authors: Cav.  

Botanical Description

from a woody rootstock, 30-50cm tall. Leaves 3-6 by 1.5-2.5cm, oblong lanceolate, spathulate or obovate in outline, with generally bluntish tips and obscure petioles, surfaces with a coat of more or less dense cobwebby white wool. Indorescence cymose-racemose, each cyme producing about four to eight flowers, the front of each broadly ellipsoidal, 1cm long, the pouch purplish or rose-pink, heavily marked externally with deeper purple or rose-crimson spots, blotches and dashes, and with a yellowish throat; the reverse pale creamy-white. A distinctive scent of violets has been recorded. C.c. var. pannosa has especially heavily felted foliage. Chile, Coquimbo to Nuble Provinces in crevices and ledges of rock faces in moist or dry places, sun or shade: often in woodland clearings and above streams at 1600-1900m. Despite its questionable tallness and tenderness, this graceful relative of C. araclinoides with airy dights of unusual blossoms and foliage like Stachys byzantina has appealed strongly to groups of alpine enthusiasts in the field.