About Gratiola pilosa Michx.
Gratiola pilosa Michx. is a stiff, erect, usually unbranched perennial herb that reaches 10–70 cm in height. Its stems are covered in soft hairs, and measure around 1–2 mm in diameter. The leaves of this species are arranged oppositely, are stalkless, and range in shape from ovate to ovate-lanceolate. They are 1.2–2 cm long and 5–11 mm wide, with margins that are either entire or irregularly serrate. The leaves are hairy and often marked with tiny glandular dots. Flowers grow singly in the axils of leafy bracts, and typically have a pair of small bractlets positioned just below the calyx. The flowers are sessile or nearly sessile, with pedicels less than 1 mm long. The sepals are linear to linear-lanceolate, 3–7 mm long, covered in fine hairs, and nearly equal in size; they are usually shorter than the linear bractlets. The corolla is small, 6–8 mm long, and white or pale lavender in color. The upper two stamens are fertile, while the lower two are underdeveloped or missing entirely. The anthers are often oriented transversely, and may be capped with a membranous connective tissue. The fruit is a smooth capsule, conical to globose in shape, that is 4–5 mm long. This plant occurs from New Jersey south to South Florida, west to East Texas, and extends north into the interior to Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma. It grows in wet pine savannas, marshes, and other wet habitats.
