Stems densely leafy, nodes crowded. Leaves: distal cauline bases often long-decurrent. Corollas white or pale lavender to purple. 2n = 32, 34.

Flowering spring-summer (May-Sep). Short-grass prairies, desert grasslands, sagebrush steppes, pinyon-juniper, mesquite woodlands, often in disturbed areas; 400-2200 m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Kans., Nebr., N.Mex., Okla., S.Dak., Tex., Utah, Wyo.

Variety ochrocentrum grows in the Great Plains from South Dakota to New Mexico and Texas. It has been introduced in California; perhaps the Utah and Arizona records are introductions as well.