The whole plant emitting an unpleasant odour, like Hyoscyamus. Stems erect, simple or branched, up to 4, or more, feet high, more or less glandular-pubescent (often villous in the upper part when young) and sparingly mealy-glandular, obtusely quadrangular, sulcate. Leaves scarcely or not at all heteromorphic; lower ovate, coarsely toothed, acute at both ends, up to 2 1/2 in. long and 1 1/2 in. broad, borne on petioles up to 1 in. long; upper leaves lanceolate, entire (rarely dentate), up to 4 in. long, 3/4 in. broad, with shorter but always distinct petioles, gradually passing into the similar foliaceous bracts, sometimes also the upper leaves ovate and dentate; all the leaves sparingly and persistently hairy and mealy-glandular below, nervation impressed above, raised below. Pedicels very short, at length up to 1/4 in. long, 2-bracteolate at the base; nectaries sessile. Calyx 2–2 1/2 lin. long, pubescent; segments lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla up to 1 1/2 in. long, obliquely campanulate, purple or purplish and white; lowest lobe up to 1/3 in. long, suborbicular. Capsule 1–1 1/4 in. long, 3 1/2–4 lin. broad, pubescent to subvillous, with a short broad beak. Seeds 1 1/4–1 1/2 lin. long, dark brown, faces radially rugose, sides narrow, pitted, one margin acute, the other usually rounded off; hence the seed plano-convex or bi-convex.
