General:
Annual or biennial herb from a taproot; stems erect, solitary or branched from base, 15-80 cm tall, minutely hairy with stiff hairs, 4-angled.

Leaves:
Opposite, lanceolate to narrowly egg-shaped, 2.5-8 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, coarsely toothed with the teeth often spine-tipped, minutely short-hairy beneath, stalked; lower leaves smaller, broader, and soon deciduous.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of crowded, dense spikes, 1.5-3.5 cm broad, often interrupted below, the terminal segment 2-10 cm long; bracts leaf-like, mostly 1-3 cm long, unstalked or nearly so, toothed, the teeth with spines; flowers short-stalked, numerous at each whorl; corollas tubular, blue or purplish to pinkish, slightly exceeding the calyces, with 2 short lips, the lower lip 3-lobed; calyces 8-14 mm long, long soft-hairy, the tube about equaling the 5 spine-tipped teeth, the upper tooth egg-shaped and longer than others.

Fruits:
Nutlets, 4 clustered together, egg-shaped, smooth.

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:
Moldavica parviflora (Nutt.) Britton