Found in moist meadows, and by brooks and runnels, flowering in June and July.

The large, somewhat square stalk, from 9 to 20 inches in height, is branching and leafy, rather roughish of surface, with short rootlets starting out on its sides, and light green. It supports itself upon surrounding vegetation.

The leaf, 2 or 3 inches long, is oval with a blunt tip, and partly clasping the stalk; its surface roughened with fine hairs, and it is light green in color.

The small 5-lobed flower is about a quarter of an inch across; its corolla is very fine and even in texture, in color light blue (occasionally pink) with a center of harmonious yellow; the calyx is small, 5-parted, and green. The buds are pinkish. The flowers grow in curving, one-sided, terminal clusters,—sometimes from the angles of the upper leaves.

This is one of the few true blue flowers of our flora; its color is pure and opaque, like that of a turquoise, or a fine enamel, and falls into harmony with the yellow of the center through an exquisite gradation of color. The plant remains in flower a long time, continually forming new buds, and leaving behind the little empty green calyx-cups on its ever-lengthening stem. The blossom of the wild plant is larger than that usually cultivated in the gardens; it is easily propagated by means of cuttings.