Stem erect, leafy, to 1.5 m; lvs numerous, the larger 2–4 dm × 5–15 mm; panicle 2–5 dm, freely branched, the central axis continued into a wand-like terminal raceme; pedicels and bracts 2 mm; fls variable in size, the tep 4–10 mm; fr 10–15 mm; seeds 3–5 mm; 2n=20. Moist woods and meadows; Pa., O., Ind., and Mo., s. to Fla. and Ark.; locally intr. in Mich. July–Sept. (S. robustum, the form with erect instead of deflexed frs)