The photo at right shows a close-up of the seeds of honesty as seen in the webmaster's garden in Gresham, OR.........August 19, 2006.
Honesty is an annual or biennial with showy flowers and interesting seed pods. The erect stems are covered with spreading hairs, and rise from 50-100 cm in height. The stems are freely branched, with both petiolate and sessile leaves. The leaves are heart-shaped with serrate margins. The leaves range from 4-10 cm in length.
The inflorescence is terminal, with many purplish or bluish, 4-petalled flowers. The petals are each about 2 cm long, arranged together to form a cross when viewed from above. The distinct seed pods are broad, oval or elliptic in shape, and thin in cross-section. When dried, they are a papery white, and may be very attractive in appearance (as seen at right).
Honesty is found along roadsides and in disturbed open forests.
Honesty is found as an occasional escapee from gardens, especially in Seattle and Portland.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found between Crown Point and The Dalles, OR, and is found between the elevations of 100'-800'. It is readily seen in the s-curves on the Columbia Gorge Highway east of Crown Point and along the road at Rowena, OR.
