Very variable, medium to tall tufted, hairy plant. Aromatic, stems erect, often purplish. Flowers purplish, red, pink or white, often darker in bud, 4 to 7 mm in broad, branched, flat topped clusters.

Rough dry grassland, scrub, banks and road verges mainly on calcareous soils.

Late June to September.

Perennial.

Local but widespread in much of Britain as far north as southern Scotland where it becomes scarcer.

Local and quite restricted in range in Leicestershire & Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 24 of the 617 tetrads.