Home
Herbs annual, 10-70 cm tall. Stems terete, mostly branched, crisped pubescent. Petiole short; leaf blade lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 3-6.5 × 0.5-1.5 cm, thinly papery, both surfaces hispidulous or pubescent, midvein conspicuous, base cuneate, margin ciliate, apex obtuse. Racemes in fork and terminal on lateral branches, 2-9 cm. Pedicel 2.5-5 mm; bracts 3, persistent, unequal, lanceolate. Sepals 5, persistent, ciliate; outer sepals 3, unequal, median one boatlike, ca. 4 mm, narrowly winged on midvein, lateral ones ovate-elliptic, ca. 3 mm; inner sepals 2, petaloid, broadly obovate or orbicular, ca. 6 mm in diam., 5-veined, anastomosing, base unguiculate. Petals 3, connate in lower 1/2, pink to purple; lateral petals ± obliquely rhombic, inside hairy at base; keel cucullate, ciliate, apex with 2 bundles of linear appendages. Stamens 8, lower 1/2-3/4 united forming an open staminal sheath adnate with petals, split in upper 1/4-1/2 into 8 free filaments; anthers ovoid. Ovary obovoid, ciliate; style curved; stigmas 2, slightly spaced, one apical, other lateral, sessile. Capsule oblong or orbicular, ca. 5 mm, narrowly winged, ciliate. Seeds black, oblong, slightly compressed, ca. 4 mm, white villous; strophiole cucullate, shallowly 3-lobed. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Aug-Oct.
A hairy annual herb. It grows about 45 cm high. The leaves have short stalks. They are oblong. The flowers are yellow. They are in open flower clusters in the axils of leaves and at the ends of branches. The fruit is a capsule. It is oblong.
Flowers greenish, pink or purplish, pedicels 3–4 mm. long, in many-flowered, terminal and lateral racemes up to 10 cm. long; rhachis crisped-pubescent; bracts 1.5–2 mm. long; bracteoles up to 0.8 mm. long, persistent.
Posterior sepal 3–3.5 mm. long, keel-shaped; wing sepals 5–7 x 3.5–6 mm., very broadly elliptic to suborbicular with rather prominent venation, glabrous; anterior sepals 2.5–3 mm. long, free, keel-shaped.
Capsule 5 x 4.5 mm., very broadly elliptic to suborbicular in outline, ciliate on the margin, with a narrow wing less than 0.5 mm. broad.
Upper petals 3 mm. long, obliquely and irregularly elliptic, notched on one side; carina 4 x 1.5 mm., crest 1.5 mm. long, purple.
Leaves 2–8 x 0.5–2 cm., elliptic to very narrowly elliptic, somewhat acuminate, with rather sparse, short, bristly hairs.
Seeds 3 x 1.5 mm., oblong-ellipsoid, with white silky hairs; caruncular appendages scarcely developed.
Annual up to 60 cm. or more tall; stems slender, often arcuate-ascending, crisped-pubescent.
Annual herb, to 31/2 ft. high
Lateral sepals magenta
Corolla magenta.
Stamens 8.
