April 17, 1806, at The Dalles, Oregon.

A phloxlike annual with small, lilac to white, tubular flowers and narrow, lance-shaped alternate leaves. Several flowers occur in the axils of the crowded upper leaves, forming a dense, headlike cluster. Height: 4-16 in (10.1-40.6 cm).

Dry, open woods; dry to mesic, sandy or gravelly prairies.

New Brunswick and Gaspe, Quebec to British Columbia, southwest to Wisconsin, Nebraska, New Mexico, and California; widely naturalized elsewhere.