General:
Annual herb; stems erect, 10-40 cm tall, slender, simple or with a few erect branches; coarsely spreading-hairy, often glandular above.

Leaves:
Alternate, unstalked, 1-4 cm long, coarsely spreading-hairy, the lower leaves linear and entire, the upper ones lanceolate, with 3 to 5 long slender lobes.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, compact, prominently bracted, terminal spike 5-20 cm long, the bracts egg-shaped, 10-25 mm long, differing gradually from the leaves, becoming shorter and more deeply cleft into 3 to 7 lanceolate, long-pointy-tipped lobes, green throughout or sometimes tinged with purple; corollas white or yellow, minutely hairy, 12-20 mm long, exserted, tubular, 2-lipped, the upper lip beak-like, straight, 4-5 mm long, the lower lip 3-4 mm long, inflated, 3-pouched, tipped with 3 tiny teeth 0.2-0.8 mm long; calyces tubular, 8-12 mm long, hairy, 2-cleft, each segment 2-toothed, the teeth slender, long-pointy-tipped; stamens 4.

Fruits:
Capsules, oblong, 5-9 mm long; seeds several, about 1 mm long, with loose netted coats.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Orthocarpus hispidus Benth.