Stout biennial to 1(–1.5) m, freely branched above; lower lvs to 3 dm, narrowed to a petiole; middle and upper lvs oblong-elliptic, 5–15 cm, sharply narrowed to both ends, sessile, the uppermost passing into the small, lanceolate to linear bracts; racemes spreading, eventually 5–15 cm; bracts often alternating with the fls, those beyond the middle minute or lacking; fruiting pedicels 2–10 mm; cor white or pale blue, 2–3 mm wide; dorsal area of the nutlets ovate, 2–3 mm, verrucose and bearing 10–25 erect prickles as long as the marginal ones; 2n=24. Upland woods; s. Que. to N.D., s. to Ga., La., and Tex. July–Sept. (Lappula v.)
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