General: Perennial herb from short, leafy stolons; stems 10-45 cm tall, loosely clumped, short stiff-hairy in lines below, glandular short stiff-hairy above (in inflorescence).
Leaves: Broadly elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped below, lance- to narrowly egg-shaped above, 1.5-5.5 cm long, 0.7-2.9 cm wide, finely toothed, glabrous but margins sometimes fringed with short, stiff hairs.
Flowers: Inflorescence an erect or nodding, terminal raceme; hypanthium 1-2.2 mm long; petals 3-9 mm long, rose to pink, rarely white, notched at tip; sepals 2-4.5 mm long, somewhat glandular; ovaries 1.5-2.5 cm long; anthers 0.4-1.2 mm long; styles 1.7-4.2 mm long; stigmas club-shaped or cylindric.
Fruits: Capsules, 4-6.5 cm long, linear, green, with scattered glandular and short, stiff hairs; stalks 5-15 mm long; seeds narrowly egg-shaped, 0.9-1.2 mm long, pimply, tuft of hairs white, 6-11 mm long, readily detaching.
Notes: Two subspecies occur in BC:
1. Flowering plants with several pairs of broad, withered, persistent leaves at base; leaves relatively thick, margins sharply toothed................. ssp. behringianum (Hausskn.) Hoch & Raven
1. Flowering plants lacking broad, withered leaves at base; leaves relatively thin, margins entire or bluntly toothed...................... ssp. hornemannii
Wet to moist rocky cliffs, meadows, thickets, and river banks in the montane zone; frequent throughout BC, especially along coast (ssp. hornemannii) to rare (ssp. behringianum), found only on the Queen Charlotte Islands; circumboreal, N to AK, YT and NT, E to PQ and NF and S to ME, NM and CA; E Asia.
