Fibrous-rooted perennial 3-6 dm; principal lvs in a basal rosette, oblong or obovate- oblong in outline, 1-2 dm, deeply pinnately lobed into rounded segments (rarely unlobed), on petioles 3-10 cm; cauline lvs 1(-3) pair, much smaller, short-petioled or sessile; primary infl 1-3 dm, the few verticils widely separated, ca 6-fld; cal at anthesis 1 cm, the upper lip truncate, 3-aristate, about as long as the tube, the lower lip longer; cor blue or violet, 2-2.5 cm, the lips much shorter than the tube; 2n=36. Upland woods and thickets, sometimes weedy; Conn. to Pa., s. O., s. Ill., and Mo., s. to Fla. and Tex. May, June.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
Infrequent in a few of the south central counties. It is usually found in dry soil but sometimes in moist soil in the "flats." It is generally found in open, bare places on slopes in woods associated with black and white oak, or with beech. It was noted as a weed in a woods pasture about a mile east of Charlestown in Clark County. Here the soil was shallow and underlaid by limestone.