Stems erect (rarely reclining), usually branching proximally, 2.5-10 dm, glabrous; rhizomes thickened; bulblets absent. Leaves opposite (distal sometimes whorled); petiole (0.2-)0.6-4 cm, ciliate proximally, cilia 0.2-1 mm; blade elliptic-lanceolate to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate (sometimes ± folded along midvein), 2-18 × 0.5-3 cm, base rounded to cuneate, decurrent, margins entire, plane, eciliolate or ciliolate proximally, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces not punctate (sometimes with small dark pits, especially apically, but these are not the resinous streaks referred to here as punctations), glabrous; venation pinnate-arcuate to obscurely pinnate to apparently single-veined (lateral veins obscure), often on same plant. Inflorescences axillary in distal leaves, solitary flowers (rarely verticils). Pedicels 1-4.2 cm, glabrous to stipitate-glandular. Flowers: sepals 5, calyx not streaked, 4-8 mm, glabrous, lobes broadly lanceolate to ovate, margins thin; petals 5, corolla yellow, not streaked, rotate, 5-12 mm, lobes with margins sometimes slightly erose distally, apex apiculate, stipitate-glandular adaxially; filaments distinct or nearly so, shorter than corolla; staminodes 0.5-1.7 mm. Capsules 4-6.5 mm, not punctate or only slightly reddish-punctate, glabrous. 2n = 34.
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Erect from a short, stout, freely rooting rhizome, to 1 m, the lateral branches usually numerous and exceeding the subtending lvs; principal lvs lance-linear to narrowly oblong or lance-ovate, 4–10 × 1–2 cm, flat, green beneath, tapering or more rounded to the base, the petiole ciliate mainly below the middle, sometimes with a few scattered cilia distally; cal-lobes thin, 4–8 mm, the midnerve and usually also the 2 or 4 lateral ones visible under a hand-lens; cor-lobes 6–10 × 4–10 mm; stamens distinct; staminodes triangular-ovate to subulate; fr 4–6.5 mm thick; 2n=34. Sloughs, wet woods, and wet prairies; Me. and s. Que. to Fla., irregularly w. to Alta., Wash., and Ariz., commonest along the Atlantic seaboard from Me. to Md., and in the upper Miss. Valley. Late June–Aug. (Steironema h.)
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