Annual herb to 2.5 m high; main stem simple below, few- to many-branched on inflorescence, softly hairy with long glandular and eglandular hairs. Basal leaves rosetted, obovate or narrowly elliptic 5–15 cm long, 1–3 cm wide, subsessile, deciduous; cauline leaves usually ovate-elliptic, 2–12.5 cm long, 0.5–4 cm wide, subsessile to shortly petiolate, margins somewhat sinuate and minutely toothed. Inflorescence a simple, dense spike to c. 40 cm long. Flowers actinomorphic, opening near sunset and fading by morning; hypanthium 1.5–3 mm long; sepals linear to oblanceolate, 2–3.5 mm long, often failing to separate completely; petals 1.5–3 mm long, pink to rose. Capsule indehiscent, narrowly ellipsoid, 5–11 mm long, c. 2 mm wide, glabrous, 4-ribbed; seeds 2–4. Flowers Dec.–Feb.
MuM, MuF. Also naturalised QLD and NSW. Native to the USA and Mexico. First recorded in Victoria near Cohuna (1938), where it does not appear to have persisted. However, it has recently been discovered in the Mildura area, growing on weedy roadsides.
