Plants (6-)8-15(-20) cm, herbage white-hoary . Corollas (at least lobes) deep red, 3-3.5 mm.

Flowering mid-late summer. River terraces, tundra; 0-600 m; N.W.T., Nunavut, Yukon; Alaska.

Long overlooked, subsp. richardsoniana is easily distinguished by its relatively short stature, dense, white indument, and deep red corollas. It is known only from western arctic North America.