Coarse, erect, taprooted, mostly single-stemmed annual or biennial to 2 m, branched above, glandular and softly spreading-villosulous; lvs lance-ovate to lanceolate or oblong, obtuse at base, remotely denticulate, to 10 cm; spikes much elongate, many-fld; fls autogamous, virtually regular; sep 2-3.5 mm, reflexed separately; pet 1.5-3 mm, turning pink; anthers 0.5-1 mm; fr glabrous or seldom short-hairy, 5-10 mm, fusiform to lanceolate, tapering to a sessile base, with a rounded rib on each of the 4 angles and a slender rib on each face; seeds 3-4; 2n=14. Weed of fields, pastures, streamsides, etc.; Ind. to Wash., s. to Tex. and n. Mex., and occasionally adventive eastward. May-Aug.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.