Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia south to California, east to the Rocky Mountains; eastern half of North America east of the Great Plains.

Habitat: Moist, open places, often in disturbed soil.

Flowers: April-May

Origin: Introduced from Europe

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Self-pollination, generalist

Annual herb, the weak stem 1-4 dm. tall, simple or dichotomously few-branched.

Leaves opposite; lower leaves broadly oblanceolate, petiolate; other leaves oblong, sessile, mostly entire, 1-7 cm. long and 3-18 mm. wide.

Flowers in several small, compact clusters 3-15 mm. wide at the ends of the branches; calyx obsolete; corolla united, the 5 lobes about equal and equaling the funnel-shaped tube, 1.5-2 mm. long, white or pale bluish, the tube with a small bulge on the side; stamens 3; stigma 3-lobed; ovary inferior, 3-celled, with two cells sterile.

Fruit dry, about 2 mm. long, the fertile cell with a corky mass on the back.