Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
45. Scrophulariaceae, the Figwort Family
3. Gratiola L. -- Hedge hyssop1. Gratiola neglecta Torr.
Small, erect to decumbent annual 0.3-2.5 dm tall, usually widely branched, glandular-pubescent at least in the upper part. Leaves opposite, sessile, variable in shape, linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 5-25 mm long, 1-12 mm wide, acute-tipped, entire to sinuate-toothed, clasping at the base. Flowers solitary in the leaf axils, subtended by a pair of narrow bractlets which equal or surpass the calyx, borne on slender, divergent, glandular-pubescent pedicels 9-20 mm long; calyx of 5 unequal, distinct sepals, these elongate, accrescent, 3-6 mm long; corolla white to yellow, tubular, obscurely bilabiate, shallowly lobed, 6-10 mm long; stamens 2, a pair of very minute staminodes also sometimes present. Capsule broadly ovoid, 4-valved, with both septicidal and loculicidal dehiscence, 3-5 mm in diameter. Jul--Sep. Mud flats and shores of temporary ponds and marshes; occasional mainly in the n part; (ME and Que. to B.C., s to GA, TX and AZ).
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