Plants highly variable in leaf shape and hairiness, some leaves are widest at mid-point and then gradually taper to stem; others are more abruptly shortened at the base above the stem.
Stems erect; basal leaves simple, 1 to 11, bases often squared off, sometimes taper to a tip; stems leafy; flower petals 5, bright yellow, 3 lower brownish-purple veined, upper 2 can be brownish, styles bearded (hairy); fruit a round capsule.
Habitat
Sagebrush flats, prairie grasslands, open forests, juniper woodlands.
Flower Characteristics
1 to few flowers from base, stalks 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, spur short; 5 petals, upper ones brownish on the back, lower 3 lined with brownish-purple on the inside, side pair hairy; style head hairy, lobed to rounded.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems bending to erect; leaf blades hairless to sparsely hairy, oval to lance-like, more or less straight or almost square at base, 3/4 to 2 inches long, smooth to shallowly blunt-toothed.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Sphere-shaped, 1/4 inch, hairless or soft hairs.
Tan, 1/16 inch, with a fleshy, oil-rich structure attached to seeds (elaiosome) that attracts ants to disperse the seeds.