Pedicularis bracteosa
Pedicularis ornithorhynchos
bract lousewort, fernleaf, towering lousewort, wood-betony
bird's-beak lousewort, duck's-bill, ducksbill lousewort
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 2–10, blade lanceolate to oblanceolate, 15–80 x 3–10 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous;
cauline 0–4, blade lanceolate, 5–40 x 3–15 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces glabrous.
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, 1–5, exceeding basal leaves, each 4–15-flowered;
bracts trullate, sometimes lanceolate, 5–13 x 1–3 mm, +/- lobed, margins entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous or tomentose.
0.5–1 mm.
3–6 mm.
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 6.5–9 mm, tomentose, lobes 5, triangular, 2.5–4 mm, apex entire or serrulate, glabrous or ciliate;
corolla 12–15 mm, tube lavender, 8–9 mm;
galea lavender, 4–6.5 mm, beaked, beak straight, 2–6.5 mm, margins entire medially and distally, apex extending beyond abaxial lip;
abaxial lip pink, 6–8 mm.
= 16.
Pedicularis bracteosa
Pedicularis ornithorhynchos
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.)
Pedicularis ornithorhynchos is commonly misspelled in the literature as P. ornithorhyncha. As this is the orthography used in floras since C. L. Hitchcock et al. (1955–1969, vol. 4), it also appears on recent herbarium specimens. How this error arose is unclear because the same misspelling also appears on specimens older than 1959. Another occasional misspelling is ornithorhynchus.
The galeas of Pedicularis ornithorhynchos taper into long conical, uncoiled beaks that are very conspicuous above the horizontally expanded lateral lobes of the abaxial lips. No more than 15 flowers are borne on the capitate heads, with the internodes greatly expanding as the fruits develop. Compared to the basal leaves, the cauline leaves of the inflorescence are very few and much shorter, but otherwise similar in form. This alpine and tundra species occurs in the Alaskan panhandle and Coast Mountains as well as the coast ranges of mainland British Columbia south into the northern Cascade Range as far south as Mount Rainier; it is also recorded from alpine areas on Vancouver Island and the Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia.
Pedicularis ornithorhynchos is pollinated by bumblebees that hang inverted from the galea and cause release of pollen by wing-muscle vibrations (L. W. Macior 1973).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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 |
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
