Stems erect, simple or branched distally, 3-7 dm, stipitate-glandular or pubescent; rhi-zomes slender to thickened (sometimes absent); bulblets absent. Leaves opposite; petiole 0.5-4.5 cm, ciliate proximally near node, cilia 0.2-0.7 (-1.2) mm; blade lanceolate to ovate, 3-9 × (0.8-) 1-4.5 cm, base truncate, rounded, or cuneate, decurrent, margins entire or slightly sinuate, plane, sometimes obscurely ciliolate (rarely stipitate-glandular), apex acute to acuminate, surfaces not punctate, glabrous; venation pinnate-arcuate. Inflorescences axillary in distal leaves, solitary flowers or verticils. Pedicels 0.8-4 cm, stipitate-glandular at least distally. Flowers: sepals 5, calyx not streaked, 2.5-7.5 mm, glandular proximally or glabrous, lobes ovate to lanceolate, margins somewhat thickened; petals 5, corolla yellow, often with reddish base, not streaked, rotate, 6-12 mm, lobes with margins usually entire or sometimes erose distally, apex apiculate, stipitate-glandular adaxially; filaments distinct or nearly so, shorter than corolla; staminodes 0.6-1 mm. Capsules 3.5-5.8 mm, not punctate, glabrous. 2n = 34, 102. Flowering late summer. Moist hardwood forests, pine-oak woods, sandstone bluffs, rocky areas; 0-600 m; Ala., Ark., Ga., Ky., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va.