Taprooted, short-lived, 2-8 dm, inconspicuously short-hairy; lvs petiolate, the blade mostly lance-elliptic to broadly lance-triangular, 2.5-8 נ1-2.5 cm, coarsely serrate; infl dense and spike-like, 1.5-3.5 cm thick, often interrupted below, the terminal segment 2-10 cm; bracts subfoliaceous, mostly 1-3 cm sessile or nearly so, aristately few-toothed; cal 1 cm, the tube about equaling the aristate-tipped lobes; cor purplish, barely surpassing the cal, with short lips; 2n=14. Dry soil; Que. to Alas., s. to n. N.Y., Ill., and Ariz. May-July.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.