Rhizomatous perennial. Stems erect, 20–70 cm, mostly simple. Herbage strigose to hirsute. Leaves petiolate; blades lanceolate to ovate, serrate, 3–8 cm long, deciduous below. Inflorescence a terminal, spike-like, bracteate raceme. Flowers: calyx glandular, hirsute to villous, purplish, 5–7 mm long, the lower 2 lobes longer; corolla light purple, ca. 1 cm long, seemingly 1-lipped with 2 pairs of lateral lobes and a larger ovate middle lobe; stamens 4, exserted. Nutlets rounded on top, almost completely united (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Our plants are variety
boreale (E.P. Bicknell) Shinners
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus vagans,
Bombus bimaculatus, and
Bombus griseocollis (Colla and Dumesh 2010, Tripoldi and Szalanski 2015).