Erect biennial or perennial 5-10 dm, often branched above; lvs lanceolate or deltoid-lanceolate, short-petioled or sessile, remotely and sharply denticulate, pubescent above with simple hairs, below chiefly with branched hairs; sep ±pubescent, fls fragrant; pet purple, varying to pink or white, 2-2.5 cm; frs 5-10 cm, somewhat constricted between the seeds; 2n=16, 24, 26, 28, 32. An old-fashioned ornamental, escaped along roads and in open woods and moist bottomlands; Que. and N.S. to Mich. and Io., s. to Ga. and Ky. May, June.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.