General: Annual herb from a taproot; stems simple or branched, erect, densely short-hairy, 10-50 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves few, reduced, soon deciduous; stem leaves alternate, linear to narrowly lanceolate, entire except for 1-4 divergent lobes which may occur below the middle, appressed stiff-hairy, 1.5-11 cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence a crowded, terminal cluster; corollas lavender-blue, 6-10 mm long, 8-18 mm wide; calyces fringed with bristly hairs, the lobes linear; stamens slightly exserted, sparsely bearded.
Fruits: Capsules; seeds 6-15, coarsely pitted, 1.5 mm long.
Mesic to dry meadows, grasslands, shrublands and open forests in the lowland, steppe and lower montane zones; common in SC and SE BC; infrequent on S Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands; E to SW AB and S to WY, UT and N CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
