Prostrate-ascending annual or biennial, 2–5 dm, the stems sympodial; racemes dense, 1–3 cm, often surpassed by the upper lvs; bracts lanceolate; sep broadly ovate, 1.5–2 mm, erose; cor bright yellow, 13–16 mm, incl. the 4–5 mm spur; outer pet folded distally along the median line into a conspicuous but wingless keel; fr smooth, spreading or drooping, 1.5–2.5 cm; seeds ca 2 mm wide, with a narrow ring-margin; 2n=16. Rocky banks or sandy soil; Que. to Alas., s. to Pa., Mich., n. Ill., and Minn., and widespread in w. U.S. May–July. Our plants are var. aurea; var. occidentalis Engelm., often attr. to our range (as C. montana Engelm.) is more southwestern.
Talus slopes, ledges, rocky hillsides, forest clearings, open shores, creek bottoms, gravel pits, road cuts, and burned-over areas, in loose often gravelly soil at elevations of 100-3400 metres
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