These are relatively broad-leaved plants, with more serration, compared to serotina; they occur mostly from Appalachian regions to the Ohio Valley (F). Basal leaves are mostly 2.5-7 cm wide (versus 1-3 cm); lower cauline leaves are mostly 2.5-6.5 cm wide (versus 0.5-2 cm) and coarsely toothed (versus entire or nearly so). F noted that involucral bracts (pales) extend to the summit of corolla throat (versus shorter), and that constricted portions of corolla tubes are about half as long as throats (versus a fifth). R. hirta (sensu stricto) may also flower relatively early in Ky., mostly during late May and June; R. serotina flowers mostly during Jun to Aug (R. Seymour, pers. comm,). Although generally distinct from serotina in appearance and habitat, some colls. are hard to assign. Natural variation in the hirta group, broadly defined, deserves more attention. Human disturbances of the landscape have probably allowed expansion of more weedy races, and there has been much propagation of selected genotypes in "wildflower" plantings. Although plants of the hirta group are generally described as annual or biennial, some individuals (at least in cultivars) can persist for more than two years; see also D. Moreover, S recognized other segregates of the hirta complex in Appalachian regions, including R. monticola Small, "perennial by short horizontal or oblique rootstocks".