Rhizomatous perennial with pubescent, solitary stems 3-10 dm; lvs lance-ovate to oblong, 5-12 cm, toothed, obtuse or rounded at base; petioles 5-15 mm; infl a crowded, spiciform raceme 5-20 cm with slender bracts to 1 cm, the pedicels 1-3 mm; cal 5-8 mm, 2-lipped, the 3 upper lobes wider and blunter than the 2 lower; cor pink-purple, 11-18 mm, cleft to the summit of the cal; stamens arching over the cor, diverging from the summit of the cal; fruiting cal not reticulate. Moist or wet soil throughout most of the U.S. and s. Can. June-Aug. Three vars.:
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.