In North America, it is a common weed of grain crops in the Canadian prairie provinces and in much of the United States.

The night-flowering catchfly is an annual herb producing a hairy, glandular stem up to about 75 or 80 centimeters in maximum height.

The flowers are nocturnal,[4] and occur in an open cyme of up to fifteen blooms, each borne on an erect pedicel.

The flower is encapsulated in a hairy calyx of fused sepals lined with a netlike pattern of veining.

[5] As night falls the flowers of the night-flowering catchfly open and release a strong fragrance which attracts night-flying moths which feed on the copious nectar and pollinate the plant.