Deciduous, acutely branched shrub. Stems erect-ascending, sparingly branched, to 200 cm; floral buds terminal, globose, larger than the lateral, ovoid foliage buds which are closely crowded beneath. Leaves alternate, petiolate, thin, to ca, 5 cm long with a musky odor; blades elliptic to obovate, bluish-green, dull, glandular, entire; apex obtuse, midnerve apex a tiny white tooth. Inflorescence a crowded, umbel-like raceme of 5 to 10 flowers borne from the distal floral bud of last year’s stem, pedicels to 2 cm long. Flowers hypogynous, 4-merous; calyx nearly obsolete, shallowly lobed, glandular-ciliate; corolla cylindric-urn-shaped, to 5 mm long, shallowly lobed, coppery-pink; stamens 8; ovary superior. Fruit an ovoid, 4-chambered capsule (Stickney in
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Our plants are variety
glabella (A.Gray) M.Peck.
Cool, moist, upland slopes in coniferous forests, often forming dense thickets on north slopes; valleys to subalpine (Stickney in
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).