Slender Gerardia.Gerardia tenuifolia.Little Gerardia.
Found, during August and September, on dry banks.
The erect, branching, and sparingly leafy stalk grows from 4 to 10 inches high; it is slender, and smooth. Green, tinged with reddish-brown.
The leaves are long and narrow, almost needle-like; in color green. They are set alternately upon the stalk.
The corolla is an irregular bell-shape with 5 rounded lobes, 2 being smaller than the others, and folded over to cover the pistil and stamens; its color is a pale magenta. The 4 stamens are woolly, and yellow-tinted; the calyx is small and 5-toothed, and green. The flowers grow on slender foot-stems along the sides of the stalk and branches.
As the fruit ripens the stems and seed-boxes turn reddish-brown. This is a common flower along roadsides.