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attol lousewort, attoll lousewort, elephant snouts, little elephant head, little elephant's head, woolly Mammoth

Labrador lousewort, pédiculaire du Labrador

Habit Plants 15–78 cm. Plants 2–25 cm.
Leaves

basal 5–25, blade elliptic, 60–150(or 200–250) x 3–23 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, serrate, surfaces glabrous or scattered glands;

cauline 2–20, blade elliptic, 5–50(–100) x 1–5 mm, undivided or 1(or 2)-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, serrate, surfaces glabrous.

basal 2 or 3, blade lanceolate, 10–20 x 2–3 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, serrate, surfaces glabrous;

cauline 1–4, blade linear to lanceolate, 10–50 x 2–10 mm, undivided or 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, serrate to 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely downy to hispid.

Racemes

simple, 1–3, exceeding basal leaves, each 10–50-flowered;

bracts lanceolate to triangular, 5–10 x 3–10 mm, pinnatifid, margins entire, surfaces glabrous or tomentose.

paniculate or buds present in cauline leaf axils, 1–8, exceeding basal leaves, each 5–20-flowered;

bracts linear to narrowly lanceolate, 7–15 x 1–2 mm, undivided or 1-pinnatifid, proximal margins entire, distal 1- or 2-serrate, sometimes crenulate, surfaces glabrous or hispid.

Pedicels

1.2–1.6 mm.

0.5–2 mm.

Flowers

calyx 4–5 mm, glabrous or tomentose, lobes 5, triangular, 2–2.5 mm, apex entire, glabrous;

corolla 6–8 mm, tube pink, rarely white, 3–6 mm;

galea white or pink with 2 purple spots or stripes, 1–2 mm, beaked, beak coiled, 3–6 mm, base curving, margins entire medially and distally, apex not surrounded by abaxial lip, axis of coil nearly vertical;

abaxial lip pendulous, white or pink with purple stripe, 4–5.5 mm.

calyx 5–8 mm, glabrous, lobes 2, triangular, 0.5–1.5 mm, apex entire, sometimes slightly bifurcate, glabrous;

corolla 12–18 mm, tube deep yellow, 7–10 mm;

galea dark yellow or yellow tinged with purple or spotted, 5–9 mm, beakless, margins entire medially, 1-toothed distally, apex arching over abaxial lip;

abaxial lip dark yellow, 5–7 mm.

2n

= 16.

= 16.

Pedicularis attollens

Pedicularis labradorica

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Open forests, tundras, heathlands, rocky slopes, muskegs.
Elevation 300–1100 m. (1000–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AB; BC; LB; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Asia (China, Russia)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

The flowers of Pedicularis attollens, like those of P. groenlandica, resemble an elephant’s head, and A. Heller placed them both in Elephantella. The short, upturned beak, in contrast to the long, more horizontal downturned beak of P. groenlandica, is a distinguishing feature of P. attollens. Whereas P. groenlandica occurs across much of western and arctic North America, P. attollens is found primarily in the Cascade Range of central and southern Oregon and the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada. It is also reported from the Klamath Range to the west and the White and Sweetwater mountains and the Warner Range to the east of the Sierra Nevada.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The flowers of Pedicularis labradorica are usually yellow or dark yellow, and the galea is tinged distally with red or purple; sometimes, the yellow color of the tube abruptly transitions into red or purple. Hultén based var. sulphurea on the solid yellow color variant from the Yukon.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Basal leaves 1-pinnatifid.
subsp. attollens
1. Basal leaves 2-pinnatifid.
subsp. protogyna
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 514. FNA vol. 17, p. 524.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis
Sibling taxa
P. angustifolia, P. aurantiaca, P. bracteosa, P. canadensis, P. capitata, P. centranthera, P. chamissonis, P. contorta, P. crenulata, P. cystopteridifolia, P. densiflora, P. dudleyi, P. flammea, P. furbishiae, P. groenlandica, P. hirsuta, P. howellii, P. labradorica, P. lanata, P. lanceolata, P. langsdorffii, P. lapponica, P. oederi, P. ornithorhyncha, P. ornithorhynchos, P. palustris, P. parryi, P. parviflora, P. pennellii, P. procera, P. pulchella, P. racemosa, P. rainierensis, P. semibarbata, P. sudetica, P. sylvatica, P. verticillata
P. angustifolia, P. attollens, P. aurantiaca, P. bracteosa, P. canadensis, P. capitata, P. centranthera, P. chamissonis, P. contorta, P. crenulata, P. cystopteridifolia, P. densiflora, P. dudleyi, P. flammea, P. furbishiae, P. groenlandica, P. hirsuta, P. howellii, P. lanata, P. lanceolata, P. langsdorffii, P. lapponica, P. oederi, P. ornithorhyncha, P. ornithorhynchos, P. palustris, P. parryi, P. parviflora, P. pennellii, P. procera, P. pulchella, P. racemosa, P. rainierensis, P. semibarbata, P. sudetica, P. sylvatica, P. verticillata
Subordinate taxa
P. attollens subsp. attollens, P. attollens subsp. protogyna
Synonyms Elephantella attollens P. labradorica var. sulphurea
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 384. (1868) Wirsing: Eclog. Bot. [2], plate 10. (1778)
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