Biennial or winter-annual, forming an overwintering rosette, variously hairy or glabrous, erect or ascending 2–5 dm, the stems branched from the base, not stoloniferous; lvs with progressively shorter petioles upwards; lfls ovate, oval, elliptic, or narrowly obovate, 2–3 cm, much longer than wide, conspicuously serrate, often marked with purple bands; peduncles 2–8 cm; heads globose; fls 8–12 mm, on pedicels to 1 cm; cal-tube 1.2–1.7 mm, the lobes linear, 3–7 mm; standard red or white, broadly elliptic-obovate, exceeding the pink or white obtuse wings; seeds 1.2–1.5 mm; 2n=16. Upland woods and prairies; w. N.Y. and s. Ont. to Io. and Kans., s. to Fla. and Tex. May–July.