Taprooted annuals. Stems weak, ascending to erect, simple or branched, angled, 10–30 cm. Herbage strigose; petioles ciliate. Leaves alternate, petiolate; blades ovate in outline, 1–3 cm long, deeply pinnately divided into 5 lanceolate lobes. Inflorescence: solitary, axillary, reflexed-pedicellate flowers. Flowers campanulate; calyx stiff-ciliate, 2–4 mm long, divided to the base with small, deltoid, reflexed appendages between the lobes; corolla lavender, 1–3 mm long, shorter than the calyx, the tube longer than the lobes; stamens and style included. Capsule 1-seeded, partly enclosed by the swollen calyx (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Vernally moist, often disturbed soil in open forest, meadows, thickets; valleys, montane (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).