The plant stands about 3 feet tall the stems are branched opposite. The leaves are light green, whitish downy beneath, opposite, simple, subsessile to short-petiolate, lanceolate ovate and slightly serrate. Flowers are blue to purple, arranged in whorls and separated by a row of fringed bracket like round platforms or pagodas, hence pagoda plant. There may be as many as 6 to 7 pagodas full of flowers, per stem sometimes weighing the plant and bending it down. Flowers bloom is from May thru September.
Young shoots are edible.
Gather flowers and leaves in bloom, dry for later herb use. The tender basal shoots are used fresh in salads. The medicinal tea is used in the treatment of indigestion, colic, coughs, colds, chills and fevers. A warm poultice of the leaves will relieve a sinus headache. Chewing the fresh leaves kills bacteria in the mouth and is good for teeth and gums.