Shrubs spreading to erect, 0.3-0.6(-1.2) m. Twigs terete, viscid, puberulent, densely hispid. Leaves alternate; petiole 0.1-1 mm, hirsute-puberulent; blade elliptic to ovate, 0.5-1.4 × 0.1-0.8 cm, margins slightly revolute, apex acute, rounded-apiculate, surfaces usually puberulent, hispid, and stipitate-glandular, rarely glabrous. Inflorescences axillary, scattered along stem, usually solitary flowers, sometimes fascicles or compact racemes, 2-5-flowered. Pedicels 10-15 mm. Flowers: sepals tardily deciduous, green, lanceolate, 3-8 mm, apex acute, surfaces puberulent, hispid, stipitate-glandular; petals connate their entire lengths, pink (rarely white), red near anther pockets, with ring of red spots proximal to pockets, 8-10 × 10-15 mm, usually sparsely hirsute and stipitate-glandular on keels abaxially, puberulent at base adaxially; filaments 3-4 mm; style 5-7.5 mm. Capsules 5-locular, 2-3.5 × 2-4 mm, sparsely stipitate-glandular. Seeds not winged, ovoid, 0.2-0.5 mm. 2n = 24.

Flowering May-Jul. Open sandy savannas, sand hills, and pine barrens; 0-100 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., S.C.