Pedicularis contorta |
Pedicularis contorta var. rubicunda |
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coil-beak lousewort, coiled lousewort, coiled pedicularis, curve-beak lousewort, curved-beak lousewort, white coiled-beak lousewort |
coiled lousewort |
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Habit | Plants 10–50 cm. | |||||||||
Leaves | basal 3–10, blade lanceolate, 30–100 x 5–30 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous; cauline 2–10, blade elliptic or triangular to lanceolate, 5–70 x 10–25 mm, 1-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous. |
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Racemes | simple, 1–6, exceeding basal leaves, each 12–40-flowered; bracts trullate to obtrullate, 5–18 x 2–15 mm, pinnatifid, margins entire, surfaces glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | bracts 2–4 mm wide, proximal margins glabrous. |
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Pedicels | 1.5–5.5 mm. |
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Flowers | calyx 5–9 mm, glabrous, lobes 5, triangular, 1–3 mm, apex entire, glabrous; corolla 7–13 mm, tube white or cream to yellowish or pink to pinkish purple, 4–7 mm; galea white or cream to yellowish with purple spots at base, or pink to pinkish purple, 2–5.5 mm, beaked, beak coiled, 5–9 mm, base curving, margins entire medially and distally, apex surrounded by abaxial lip, axis of coil nearly vertical; abaxial lip surrounding beak, white or cream to yellowish, or pink to pinkish purple, 5–8 mm. |
calyx reddish with purple spots; corolla: tube pink to pinkish purple; galea pink to pinkish purple; abaxial lip pink to pinkish purple. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Pedicularis contorta |
Pedicularis contorta var. rubicunda |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | |||||||||
Habitat | Open subalpine forests, meadows, dry rocky exposures, deep loam soils, rocky well-drained soils. | |||||||||
Elevation | 2000–2900 m. (6600–9500 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CA; ID; MT; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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ID; MT |
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). The coiled beak that extends directly downward from the top of the galea is distinctive in Pedicularis contorta. Seen from the side, the large, upward-expanded, lateral lobes of the abaxial lip surround the beak, concealing it from view. The flowers of P. contorta are very similar to those of P. racemosa; however, the leaves of P. racemosa are undivided, the beak curves down and to one side, and the inflorescence often branches, forming a panicle of short racemes with long internodes between flowers. Flower and calyx color and width of the subtending floral bracts delimit three varieties in Pedicularis contorta; corolla color is difficult to discern in herbarium specimens. The following key is adapted from R. N. Reese (1984). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Reese noted that the center of distribution of var. rubicunda was Clearwater County, Idaho, and adjacent Ravalli County, Montana. Intermediates are common between var. contorta and var. rubicunda in areas of sympatry where the same species of Bombus pollinate both varieties during foraging (Reese). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 519. | FNA vol. 17, p. 520. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis | Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis > Pedicularis contorta | ||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | Bentham: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 108. (1838) | R. N. Reese: Brittonia 36: 63, figs. 1–3. (1984) | ||||||||
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