It is an annual herb native to North and South America, the natural range extending from Canada to Argentina.

[10] These flowers are wheel-shaped or bell-shaped, violet blue (rarely white[11]), and approximately 1.3 centimetres (.5 in) across.

It is also native to Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

[4] Flowers bloom from May to August and attract a variety of bees, flies, butterflies, and moths.

[12] The Cherokee make a liquid compound of roots infused into a bath for dyspepsia(indigestion).