Grows in dense tufts from slightly woody bases, simple or sparingly branched. Somewhat woody with a dwarf, compactly branched habit, usually not taller than 6 inches and densely leafy.
Large, showy flowers, tubes 1/2 to 3/4 inch, lobes 1/4 to 1/2 inch, flowers several to many per plant. Leaves narrow, thin, pointed, deciduous. Sepals keeled; styles longer than the sepals. Taprooted.
Habitat
Dry, sandy, rocky slopes, open sites, shrub-lands and woodlands.
Flower Characteristics
Flowers on individual stems, 1/2 to 3/4 inch tubular flowers, 1-1/4 inches across the face of the flower, petals somewhat notched; sepals with or without soft hairs, keeled, may be glandular; stamens inserted on the upper tube; stigmas within the stamens.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves lance-like, 3/4 to 3 inches long, deeply longitudinally grooved; hairy to hairy-glandular to no hairs; stems simple or sparingly branched.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Ovary egg-shaped or oblong, 3-celled.
1 or several seeds in each cell.