Erect or ascending stems emerge from horizontal rootstalks, becoming branched, widely loosely spreading, often with a curve at end; flowers open from the top of the cluster down; at the base of the flower there are organs that secrete nectar.
Erect diffuse branched stems without hairs, milky sap (latex);Â leaves dark green above, whitish, hairy below; flower petals 5, pinkish with red marks, fused most of their length, spread into very short lobes, sometimes bent back at the tips, fragrant.
Habitat
Found in open to rocky sites, often in higher elevation forests.
Flower Characteristics
Flowers are grouped in terminal loosely rounded clusters and in the leaf axils; sepals 1/16 to 1/4 inch long; petals to 1/2 inch, broadly bell shaped; with 5 spreading lobes which bend backwards; white to pink with occasional pink or red veins.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems smooth, erect to ascending to 20 inches tall; leaves dark green above with few hairs, denser hairs on undersides making them whitish, egg-shaped to oblong or lance shaped, 3/4 to 2-1/2 inches long, 1/2 to 1-1/4 inches wide; short stems or no stems.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruit is a narrow, dry follicle (capsule-like but derived from an ovary with a single female reproductive organ, that splits open on 1 side), 1-1/2 to 6 inches long, pendulous, round in cross section, opens at maturity.
Seeds are many, brown, 1/6 to 1/8 inch long with a tuft of brown hairs at the tip.