General: Perennial from a stout taproot and branched stem-base; tufted, often matted; stems decumbent to ascending, several, branched, finely and densely hairy, 10-70 cm tall/long.
Leaves: Basal leaves mostly matted at the base of the stems, oblanceolate to lanceolate, 2-5 cm long, hairy, stalked, 2-10 mm wide; stem leaves opposite, 1-8 pairs, oblanceolate, 2-8 cm long, becoming smaller and unstalked above, hairy; stipules lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence of solitary or more usually 3 flowers; petals 5, creamy white to yellowish or greenish, often tinged with pink or purple, bilobed, 12-16 mm long, stalklike at the bases, the stalks 8-12 mm long; sepals 5, creamy white or pink, greenish or purplish, united, forming a tube 10-15 mm long, inflated and papery in fruit, 10-nerved.
Fruits: Capsules 1-celled, 8-12 mm long; seeds 1.1-1.5 mm long, reddish-brown, roughened.
Mesic to dry grasslands, shrublands, meadows and open forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent in S BC, rare in N BC; S to MT, VT, NV and 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)
