Puberulent annual. Stems erect, often branched above, 10–80 cm with glandular bands below the nodes. Leaves: basal oblanceolate, 1–3 cm long; cauline linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 1–8 cm long. Inflorescence an open, many-flowered cyme. Flowers: calyx 10-veined, ellipsoid, glabrous, 5–10 mm long; petals white to purplish, the blade 2–3 mm long, shallowly bilobed with 2 appendages; styles 3. Capsule as long and wide as the calyx, opening by 6 slits (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Usually disturbed soil of grasslands, steppe, fields, roadsides; plains, valleys (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus vagans,
Bombus pensylvanicus, and
Bombus impatiens (Colla and Dumesh 2010).