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General:
Annual herb from a stout or slender taproot; stems spreading to erect, 10-100 cm tall, simple to freely branched, minutely hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2-7 cm long, mostly 2-6 mm wide; unstalked or stalks less than 3 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence dense, axis straight when in bud, buds usually erect; hypanthium 2-10 mm long; corollas bowl-shaped, tending to close at night; petals pink to rose-purple, red-spotted or -marked near centre, egg- to fan-shaped, not clawed, 1-4 cm long; sepals usually joined and turned to one side, sometimes partially free; stamens 8, anthers glabrous or slightly hairy, all alike; stigmas 1-6 mm long, linear to oval, yellow; styles usually exceeding stamens.
Fruits:
Capsules, linear to somewhat club-shaped, (1) 1.5-4.5 cm long, straight to curved, beakless or with a beak several mm long, 4-grooved when young, later cylindric and 8-ribbed.
Notes:
Two sympatric varieties occur in BC:
1. Stigmatic lobes oval, usually not over 2 mm long; petals usually less than 2 cm long................ var. caurina (Abrams) C.L. Hitchc.
1. Stigmatic lobes linear, usually over 2 mm long; petals usually greater than 2 cm long............... var. lindleyi (Dougl.) C.L. Hitchc.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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