Herbs, perennial, 15–80 cm, glabrous. Stems erect, branches 1–several from base, unbranched proximal to inflorescence. Leaves: proximal 4–10 pairs opposite, distal alternate, erect to spreading; stipular glands absent; blade of proximal leaves spatulate, central and distal elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 15–25 × 3–7 mm, margins entire, not ciliate, apex acute to apiculate. Inflorescences corymbs. Pedicels 1–10 mm. Flowers: sepals persistent, lanceolate-ovate, inner shorter, broader, thinner than outer, outer sepals 2–4 mm, margins not scarious, inner sepals usually with a few small, sessile glands along margin distal to middle, rarely eglandular, outer ones entire, apex acute to acuminate; petals yellow, obovate (sometimes notched at apex), 3–5.5 mm; stamens 1.2–3 mm; anthers 0.5–1 mm; staminodia absent; styles distinct, 1–2 mm; stigmas capitate. Capsules globose, carpels flattened or ± concave abaxially, 1.3–1.8 × 2–2.5 mm, apex depressed, dehiscing freely into 10, 1-seeded segments, segments falling freely, false septa nearly complete, proximal margins usually sparsely and inconspicuously few-ciliate. Seeds 1–1.5 × 0.6–0.9 mm. 2n = 36.
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Glabrous perennial 2–7 dm; stems 1–several from the base, simple below the infl; lvs mostly 10–40 below the infl, elliptic to oblanceolate or obovate, 1.5–2.5 cm × 3–6 mm, the lower opposite, the upper often alternate; stem with a single narrow wing decurrent from the base of each lf but not extending to the lf below; infl open-corymbiform, typically with a few rather long, slender, ascending-spreading branches; pedicels 2–8(–10) mm, terete or nearly so; sep lance-ovate, the outer acute, entire, 2–4 mm, the inner shorter, broader, often with a few tiny sessile glands along the margins; pet yellow, 3.5–5.5 mm; fr depressed-globose, scarcely 2 mm, readily splitting into 10 mericarps, shattering and falling; false septa nearly complete, glabrous; true septa usually sparsely ciliate; 2n=36. Upland woods; Mass. and s. Ont. to s. Mich., n. Ill., and Mo., s. to Ga. and Ala., southward mostly avoiding the coastal plain. June, July. (Cathartolinum v.)
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