a glabrous or nearly glabrous herb, branched or simple, turning dusky in drying, shining, erect or ascending, smooth or slightly verrucose-glandular, 5–24 in. high, apparently perennial, probably a root-parasite; stem tetragonal; branches lax, elongated, slender, moderately leafy, sulcate; leaves opposite or subopposite, linear or nearly so, narrowed towards both ends, acute or pointed, cartilaginous at the tip, sessile or subpetiolate, erect-patent, entire or sparingly denticulate, rather thick with immersed veins, 1–3 in. long, 1/20– 3/8 in. broad; flowers 2/3–1 1/4 in. long, like Phlox, purple, white or pale rosy; racemes terminal, pedunculate, lax, simple or branched below; pedicels slender, rigid or firm, 1-flowered, 1/4–1 in. long, solitary in the axils of the bracts; calyx campanulate-turbinate, 5-cleft, 10-nerved, rather loose, 1/3– 1/2 in. long, ebracteolate; lobes sublanceolate, keeled, acuminate, subacute, 1/6– 1/3 in. long; corolla-tube narrowly subcylindrical, 5/8–1 1/8 in. long, more or less curved, glabrous or minutely puberulous; limb 1/2–1 2/3 in. in diam.; lobes 5, spreading, obovate, rounded, 1/5– 3/4 in. long, upper two connate high up; filaments pubescent; anthers glabrous, included, narrow, oblong, 1/12 in. long; style shorter than the stamens; stigma thickened, acute; capsule shortly and obliquely ovoid, 1/5– 1/2 in. long and broad, glabrous, shortly and obliquely beaked, somewhat compressed; valves coriaceous. null
