Coarse, densely leafy, softly villous perennial 2-5 dm (or the stems a little longer and diffuse); lfls mostly (9)11-17(-21), rather narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, often ±folded, 5-10 mm, the terminal one smaller than the adjacent ones; spikes fairly dense but not cone-like, becoming 3-12 cm; bracts slender, setaceous-tipped, deciduous; fls of sect. Kuhnistera, pale purple or pinkish, seldom white, 5-6 mm; cal densely spreading-hairy, not bracteolate; 2n=14. Sandy prairies; Wis. to Sask., Mont., Colo., ne. N.M., and Okla. July, Aug. Ours is var. villosa. (Petalostemon v.)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
