Perennial; stems much branched, spreading or scrambling to 2 m, retrorse-scabrous on the angles; lvs in 6’s or those of the branches in 4’s or 5’s, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, usually widest above the middle, to 20 × 6 mm, sharply acute or cuspidate, retrorsely scabrous on the margins and midvein beneath; infls terminal and from the upper axils, usually ascending, rarely over 2 cm, 1-3 times forked, few-fld, forming a small loose panicle; cor 4-lobed, white, 3 mm wide; fr smooth, 2 mm. Wet woods and thickets; Nf. to Minn., s. to N.C. and Mo., most abundant northeastward. May-Aug.