General: Biennial or short-lived perennial herb from a taproot, usually dying after flowering once, reportedly skunky-smelling; stems 1 to several, erect, stalked-glandular upwards or glands replaced by long, spreading, crinkly, white hairs, 20-100 cm tall.
Leaves: Basil leaves in a rosette, 3-8 cm long, pinnately cleft into 9 to 11 narrow segments, withering by flowering time; stem leaves well developed, reduced upwards, 5- to 7-pinnately cleft, hairless to minutely hairy.
Flowers: Inflorescence a loose, elongated, 1-sided terminal, panicle-like cluster of several short-stalked, bracted flowers; corollas bright red to orange, 15-35 mm long, the slender tube often yellow-mottled in the throat, abruptly spreading to 5 pointy-tipped lobes 6-13 mm long.
Fruits: Capsules, 3-chambered, 4-8 mm long; seeds 1 to several per chamber, 2.5-4 mm long, becoming sticky when moistened.
Dry to mesic, often gravelly or rocky slopes, grassy bluffs, meadows and forest openings in the steppe and montane zones; locally common in SC BC; S to MT, CA and MX
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)
