Bartsia alpina is a hemiparasitic perennial plant with a woody rhizome, growing to a height of between 8 and 30 cm (3 and 12 in).
The stem is erect and sometimes branched, hairy and purple in colour.
The leaves are in opposite pairs, with oval leaf blades up to 25 mm (1.0 in) long and toothed margins.
At the base of the plant, the leaves are green, but higher up they are tinged with purple.
The corolla is dark purple and is about 20 mm (0.8 in) long.
It is narrow at the base and has two lips, an obtuse upper lip and a smaller lower one, with three blunt, equal-sized lobes.
It has four stamens fused to the corolla and two ovaries fused to the style.
The fruit is an oval brown capsule.
Bartsia alpina is a hemiparasitic perennial plant with a woody rhizome, growing to a height of between 8 and 30 cm (3 and 12 in). The stem is erect and sometimes branched, hairy and purple in colour. The leaves are in opposite pairs, with oval leaf blades up to 25 mm (1.0 in) long and toothed margins. At the base of the plant, the leaves are green, but higher up they are tinged with purple. The corolla is dark purple and is about 20 mm (0.8 in) long. It is narrow at the base and has two lips, an obtuse upper lip and a smaller lower one, with three blunt, equal-sized lobes. It has four stamens fused to the corolla and two ovaries fused to the style. The fruit is an oval brown capsule.
Bartsia alpina