Stems tall, often 1 m, rather stout, scabrous to the touch; lvs commonly 1-2 mm wide, very often with axillary fascicles of smaller ones; pedicels 2-5 mm at anthesis; cal-tube 2.8-4 mm, the lobes 0.5-2 mm, averaging a third as long as the tube; cor 2.5-3.5 cm, purple; pollen-sacs 2-3.5 mm; fr subglobose, 5-6 mm; seeds dark; 2n=28. Dry sandy soil, often weedy; s. Md. to Fla. and Tex., n. in the interior to s. Mo., and sometimes adventive farther n. (Gerardia f.)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.