A native of China, familiar in cultivation and hardy farther north than other species in the genus. First collected on a beach at Mackinac Island (Mackinac Co.) in 1934 (J. E. Potzger 4611, BUT, ND). Still rare but to be expected elsewhere as an escape. Invasive in some areas of the world, but not Michigan thus far.

This is a shrub with opposite, crenulate-serrate, nearly sessile leaves. The undersides of the leaves and branches of the inflorescence are covered with stellate hairs. The 4-merous flowers are ± purple, with an orange center, in a dense elongate terminal inflorescence, and are indeed very attractive to butterflies. In most areas of Michigan, the woody stems die back in winter, sometimes essentially to ground level, resprouting vigorously in the spring to bloom by mid-summer.