General: Annual herb from a small taproot; stems ascending to erect, numerous, simple to freely branched, 10-40 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves alternate, linear to narrowly oblong, egg-shaped or elliptic, the blades 1-8 cm long, unstalked or nearly so, sometimes reduced to bracts above; stipules short-sheathing, 5-12 mm long, clear, becoming ragged.
Flowers: Inflorescence of few flowers in elongate axillary racemes; perianths 1.5-5 mm long, greenish with white or pinkish margins, 5-lobed nearly to the base.
Fruits: Achenes, lanceolate to egg-shaped, sometimes 3-angled, black, smooth and shiny, 2-4 mm long.
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.
Dry rocky slopes, disturbed sites and forest openings in the lowland and montane zones; infrequent in and W of the Coast-Cascade Mountains in S BC; rare northward to 54degreeN, absent from the Queen Charlotte Islands; S to NW OR.