Ozark meadow beauty

Rhexia latifolia Bush, Rhodora 13: 167. 1911, not Aublet 1775; R. mariana Linnaeus var. interior (Pennell) Kral & Bostick

Caudices not developed; roots often long and rhizomelike, lignes­cent, non-tuberiferous. Stems unbranched or few- to several-branched distally, 40–60 cm, faces subequal, angles sharp, without wings or very narrowly winged, internodes and nodes hirsute-villous, hairs gland-tipped. Leaves sessile, subsessile, or petiole 0.5–1.5 mm; blade narrowly to broadly elliptic, 2–6(–7) cm × 10–25 mm, margins serrate to serrulate, surfaces loosely strigose to strigose-hirsute or villous. Inflorescences diffuse, not obscured by bracts. Flowers: hypanthium ovoid to subglobose, about as long as the constricted neck, 6–10 mm, hirsute-villous, glabrous, or glabrate, hairs gland-tipped; calyx lobes narrowly triangular, apices acute to acuminate, narrowed to linear-oblong extensions; petals spreading, bright lavender-rose, 1.2–1.5 cm; anthers curved, 5–8 mm. Seeds 0.5–0.7 mm, surfaces irregularly ridged in concentric rows or with laterally flattened, domelike processes. 2n = 44.

Flowering Jun–Sep. Moist to wet areas, ditches, prairies; 0–300 m; Ala., Ark., Ill., Ind., Kans., Ky., La., Miss., Mo., Okla., Tenn., Tex.