Compact bush up to 100 cm, erect, viscid. Leaves 15-50 Χ 4-8 mm, linear-lanceolate or linear, 3-veined, green and sparsely pubescent above, densely stellate-tomentose beneath, sessile. Cymes 2- to 8-flowered, unilateral. Sepals 5, the outer ovate, broadly cuneate at base. Flowers 2-3 cm in diameter, white. Style very short. 2n = 18. S. Europe.