The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

bract lousewort, fernleaf, towering lousewort, wood-betony

Furbish lousewort, Furbish's lousewort

Habit Plants 20–80 cm. Plants 40–90 cm.
Leaves

basal 0–10, blade lanceolate, 20–120 x 10–60 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous;

cauline 4–10, blade lanceolate, 10–270 x 8–150 mm, undivided or 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, serrate to 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous or scattered glandular.

basal 4, blade lanceolate to elliptic, 70–130 x 35–50 mm, 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces hispid;

cauline 7, blade lanceolate to elliptic, 20–90 x 8–35 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces hispid.

Racemes

simple, 1–4, exceeding basal leaves, each 15–75-flowered;

bracts lanceolate or subulate to trullate, 10–20 x 2–10 mm, undivided, proximal margins entire, distal entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous, hispid, or tomentose.

simple or paniculate, 1–4, exceeding basal leaves, each 3–30-flowered;

bracts trullate, 8–13 x 7–10 mm, undivided or pinnatifid, margins serrate to 2-serrate, surfaces hispid.

Pedicels

0.5–1 mm.

1–3 mm.

Flowers

calyx 7–15 mm, glabrous or tomentose, lobes 5, triangular or filiform, 1–10 mm, apex entire, glabrous or ciliate;

corolla 14–27 mm, tube yellow or dark blood red, 6–12 mm;

galea yellow to yellow tinged with red, purple tinged with yellow, or dark blood red, 6–15 mm, beakless or beaked, beak straight, 0.8–2.5 mm, margins entire medially and distally, apex arching over abaxial lip;

abaxial lip expanded, yellow, yellow tinged with purple, or dark blood red, 4.5–6.5 mm.

calyx 5–12 mm, hispid-glandular, lobes 5, narrowly triangular, 3–4.5 mm, apex entire or dentate, glabrous;

corolla 14–19 mm, tube yellow, 8–10 mm;

galea yellow, apically sometimes tinged red, 6–8.5 mm, beakless, margins entire medially, 1-toothed distally, apex arching slightly over abaxial lip;

abaxial lip yellow with apex sometimes tinged red, 7–7.5 mm.

Pedicularis bracteosa

Pedicularis furbishiae

Phenology Flowering Jul–Sep.
Habitat Riverbanks.
Elevation 100–300 m. [300–1000 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ME; NB
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 8 (8 in the flora).

Pedicularis bracteosa is found in subalpine habitats across much of western North America, occurring throughout the Rocky Mountains from central British Columbia and Alberta to northern New Mexico, as well as the Coast Range south to northern California.

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

Discovered in 1880, and at one time believed extinct, Pedicularis furbishiae was rediscovered in 1974 during an environmental impact survey for a proposed dam on the St. John's River and thereafter was placed on the Federal Register under the Endangered Species Act (L. W. Macior 1981). Metapopulation dynamics suggest that an ecologically intact watershed is required for long-term persistence (E. S. Menges 1990). A recovery strategy has been adopted for this species in New Brunswick (Furbish's Lousewort Recovery Team 2006; Environment Canada 2010). Pedicularis furbishiae is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

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

Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis
Sibling taxa
P. angustifolia, P. attollens, P. aurantiaca, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
P. bracteosa var. atrosanguinea, P. bracteosa var. bracteosa, P. bracteosa var. canbyi, P. bracteosa var. flavida, P. bracteosa var. latifolia, P. bracteosa var. pachyrhiza, P. bracteosa var. paysoniana, P. bracteosa var. siifolia
Key
1. Galeas beaked.
→ 2
2. Calyces tomentose.
var. canbyi
2. Calyces glabrous.
var. siifolia
1. Galeas beakless.
→ 3
3. Calyx lobes filiform.
→ 4
4. Corollas: tubes yellow, galeas yellow to yellow tinged with red, or purple tinged with yellow, abaxial lips yellow to yellow tinged with purple.
var. bracteosa
4. Corollas: tubes, galeas, and abaxial lips dark blood red.
var. atrosanguinea
3. Calyx lobes triangular.
→ 5
5. Galeas 10–15 mm.
var. paysoniana
5. Galeas 7–11 mm.
→ 6
6. Galea apices acute; British Colombia, Idaho, Washington.
var. latifolia
6. Galea apices obtuse; Blue and Wallowa mountains, Cascade Range, Oregon and Washington.
→ 7
7. Calyces slightly hispid; Cascade Range, Oregon and Washington.
var. flavida
7. Calyces tomentose; Blue and Wallowa mountains, Oregon, and Washington.
var. pachyrhiza
Name authority Bentham: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 110. (1838) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 17: 375. (1882)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 515. Treatment author: Bruce W. Robart. FNA vol. 17, p. 522. Treatment author: Bruce W. Robart.
Web links