Stems erect, to 1 m, usually simple below the infl, minutely pubescent with curved-ascending hairs, with (3) several to many racemes; lvs lance-ovate to ovate or rhombic-ovate, 5-10 cm, crenate except near the base, obtuse, broadly rounded, or subcordate at base, sparsely pilose above; petioles 1-3 cm; bracts all much reduced, entire, about equaling the appressed-canescent cal; cor 18-25 mm. Upland woods; w. N.Y. to s. Wis., s. to Ga., Ark., and Kans. June-Aug. Var. incana, widespread but missing from most of the s. Appalachians, has the lvs soft-hairy across the surface beneath. Var. punctata (Chapm.) C. Mohr, of the mts. from W.Va. and Ky. to Ga. and Ala., has the lvs glabrous beneath except for the sparsely hairy veins.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
Infrequent throughout the state except the northern part, from which we have no records. Usually found in dry soil in black and white oak and in beech and sugar maple woods. Rarely along roadsides and in wet situations. About half of my specimens from the southern part of the state have stems more or less glandular-pubescent.