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Pedicularis densiflora

Indian warrior, warrior's plume

elephant head, fernflower, lousewort, pedicularis

Habit Plants 10–50 cm. Herbs, perennial [annual]; hemiparasitic, rhizomatous, caudex woody or fleshy, scaly.
Stems

erect, fleshy, glabrous, hispid, villous, or woolly.

Leaves

basal 1–10, blade lanceolate, 30–200 x 20–70 mm, 2(or 3)-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or extensively overlapping distally, 1-serrate, surfaces glabrous, hispid, or downy;

cauline 4–20, blade lanceolate, 15–250 x 5–100 mm, 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or extensively overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces glabrous, hispid, or downy.

basal rosette [absent], petiole present, blade not fleshy, not leathery, margins entire, serrate, or crenate;

cauline alternate, rarely whorled [nearly opposite], sometimes absent, petiole present or absent, blade chartaceous, margins entire, serrate, or crenate.

Racemes

simple, 1–5, exceeding basal leaves, each 10–50-flowered;

bracts lanceolate to trullate, 10–35 x 3–5 mm, undivided or 1-pinnatifid, proximal margins entire, distal 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

terminal or axillary, racemes;

bracts present.

Pedicels

2–4 mm.

present;

bracteoles absent.

Flowers

calyx 9–18 mm, downy to tomentose, lobes 5, triangular, 3–4 mm, apex entire, ciliate;

corolla 23–43 mm, tube dark red, purple, or orange-yellow, rarely white, 8–18 mm;

galea dark red, purple, or orange-yellow, rarely white, 15–25 mm, beakless, margins entire medially and distally, apex straight;

abaxial lip dark red, purple, or orange-yellow, rarely white, 8–15 mm.

sepals 2 or [4]5, calyx bilaterally symmetric, campanulate or tubular, lobes triangular, spatulate, or filiform;

petals 5, corolla pink, purple, red, yellow, or white, strongly bilabiate, cylindric to funnelform, abaxial lobes 3, adaxial 2, adaxial lip galeate, enclosing anthers and style, beaked or beakless, margins entire medially and distally, with 1 set of teeth medially and entire distally, with 1 set of teeth medially and distally, or entire medially and with 1 set of teeth distally;

stamens 4, didynamous, filaments glabrous or hairy, pollen sacs equal;

staminode 0;

ovary 2-locular, placentation axile;

stigma capitate.

Capsules

dehiscence loculicidal.

Seeds

5–100, dark gray, brown, or tan, ovoid, wings absent.

x

= 8.

2n

= 16.

Pedicularis densiflora

Pedicularis

Phenology Flowering Feb–May.
Habitat Mixed coniferous forests.
Elevation 30–3100 m. (100–10200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
North America; Mexico; South America; Europe; s Asia; c Asia; Atlantic Islands (Iceland)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Scarlet corollas with an undomed, toothless galea and two- or three-pinnatifid leaves are diagnostic of Pedicularis densiflora. This species occurs in forested subalpine regions of southern Oregon, western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and the Coast Ranges of California south to Baja California. Herbarium records indicate northern populations of P. densiflora occur at higher elevations than do more southern populations.

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

Species 400–600 (37 in the flora).

E. Hultén (1968) listed three Pedicularis taxa in his Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories that do not occur in the flora area; P. amoena Adams ex Steven, P. kanei Durand subsp. adamsii (Hultén) Hultén, and P. villosa Ledebour ex Sprengel are found on the Chukchi Peninsula of Siberia.

The most common chromosome number for Pedicularis is 2n = 16. Two species are reported to have a diploid number of 2n = 12, and at least five species have a number of 2n = 14. See reviews in Jie C. et al. (2004) and M. I. S. Saggoo and D. K. Srivastava (2009).

Infrageneric classification of Pedicularis is both difficult and incomplete. The author has not attempted to present one for the North American taxa. Inconsistencies result from using either floral morphology or phyllotaxy to construct major subgeneric groups (C. Steven 1823; G. Bentham 1835; C. J. Maximowicz 1888; D. Prain 1890; G. Bonati 1918; Tsoong P. C. 1955); the latter author proposed 130 series to accommodate the worldwide variation in Pedicularis. Recognizing that floral form probably evolved in parallel among groups, Li H. L. (1948) employed phyllotaxy to erect three informal subgeneric taxa (greges) for the Pedicularis of China, including grex Allophyllum, species with alternate leaves; grex Cyclophyllum, species with opposite or verticillate arrangement of leaves; and grex Poecilophyllum, species with alternate to subopposite leaves on the same plant. However, molecular phylogenies (Yang F. S. et al. 2003; R. H. Ree 2005; B. W. Robart et al. 2015; Yu W. B. et al. 2015) indicate inconsistencies even in the treatment by Li, although the study by Yu et al., which included 257 species, did show that grex Cyclophyllum is monophyletic.

Pediculariopsis was described to account for species (for example, Pedicularis verticillata) that exhibit a different base chromosome number (x = 6 versus x = 8). That concept has not been accepted by others, because there is little morphological support.

The use of infraspecific ranks in Pedicularis follows T. F. Stuessy (1990), who argued that the subspecific rank is appropriate when several obvious morphological differences are associated with an allopatric or peripatric geographical pattern, whereas the varietal rank is appropriate when one to few differences are associated with more or less geographic overlap. Unfortunately, Pedicularis specialists have not used these levels consistently. The subspecies rank is used here, except in P. bracteosa, P. centranthera, and P. contorta.

Pedicularis is a common element of arctic and alpine habitats in the Northern Hemisphere, with the greatest concentration of species occurring in Asia.

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

Key
1. Racemes verticillate; cauline leaves whorled.
→ 2
2. Galeas beaked; basal leaf blades 15–40 mm.
P. chamissonis
2. Galeas beakless; basal leaf blades 10–20 mm.
P. verticillata
1. Racemes simple or paniculate; cauline leaves alternate.
→ 3
3. Calyx lobes 2(–4).
→ 4
4. Galeas beaked.
→ 5
5. Beaks sickle-shaped.
P. racemosa
5. Beaks straight.
→ 6
6. Calyx lobe apices distally serrate.
P. lanceolata
6. Calyx lobe apices distally entire.
P. lapponica
4. Galeas beakless.
→ 7
7. Galea margins 1-toothed medially, entire distally.
P. parviflora
7. Galea margins entire or 1-toothed medially, 1-toothed distally.
→ 8
8. Galea margins 1-toothed medially.
→ 9
9. Galeas 6.5–9 mm.
P. palustris
9. Galeas 3–6.5 mm.
P. pennellii
8. Galea margins entire medially.
→ 10
10. Racemes paniculate, or buds present in cauline leaf axils.
→ 11
11. Basal leaves 0; cauline leaf blades undivided.
P. angustifolia
11. Basal leaves 2 or 3; cauline leaf blades undivided or 1- or 2-pinnatifid.
P. labradorica
10. Racemes simple.
→ 12
12. Cauline leaf blades 1-pinnatifid, lobe margins 1- or 2-serrate.
P. canadensis
12. Cauline leaf blades undivided, lobe margins 2-crenate.
P. crenulata
3. Calyx lobes 5.
→ 13
13. Galeas beaked.
→ 14
14. Galea beaks coiled.
→ 15
15. Galea beak apices surrounded by abaxial lips.
P. contorta
15. Galea beak apices not surrounded by abaxial lips.
→ 16
16. Galea beaks abruptly upcurved; beaks 3–6 mm.
P. attollens
16. Galea beaks gradually upcurved; beaks 5–18 mm.
P. groenlandica
14. Galea beaks straight.
→ 17
17. Beaks 0.8–2.5 mm; bracts undivided.
→ 18
18. Corolla tubes and galeas yellow.
P. bracteosa
18. Corolla tubes and galeas white.
P. howellii
17. Beaks 2–8 mm; bracts undivided or +/- lobed.
→ 19
19. Galeas 4–6.5 mm.
P. ornithorhynchos
19. Galeas 7–10 mm.
P. parryi
13. Galeas beakless.
→ 20
20. Galea margins entire medially, 1-toothed distally.
→ 21
21. Calyces glabrous.
→ 22
22. Bracts 2-pinnatifid to midrib.
P. sylvatica
22. Bracts undivided proximally, 1-pinnatifid 1/2 to midrib distally, or undivided with or without long auricles, or 1-pinnatifid.
→ 23
23. Pedicels 2.5–5 mm; corolla tubes 11–13 mm.
P. langsdorffii
23. Pedicels 1–2.5 mm; corolla tubes 9–11 mm.
P. sudetica
21. Calyces +/- tomentose, hispid-glandular, hispid to hirsute, white- or yellowish white-lanate, sparsely pilose, or +/- woolly.
→ 24
24. Corolla tubes yellow to light or greenish yellow.
→ 25
25. Corollas 14–19 mm.
P. furbishiae
25. Corollas 22–30 mm.
P. procera
24. Corolla tubes red, violet-red, lavender, purple, magenta, or pink, sometimes white.
→ 26
26. Basal leaf blades 150–250 mm.
P. procera
26. Basal leaf blades 5–110 mm.
→ 27
27. Basal leaves: margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping to extensively overlapping.
→ 28
28. Bracts undivided or 1- or 2-auricled, sometimes 1-pinnatifid.
P. cystopteridifolia
28. Bracts 2-pinnatifid, not auricled.
P. pulchella
27. Basal leaves: margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally.
→ 29
29. Corollas 11–19 mm, galea apices nearly straight to arching slightly over abaxial lips.
P. hirsuta
29. Corollas 16–25 mm, galea apices strongly arching over abaxial lips.
→ 30
30. Pedicels 2.5–5 mm.
P. langsdorffii
30. Pedicels 1–2.5 mm.
P. sudetica
20. Galea margins entire medially and distally.
→ 31
31. Racemes not exceeding basal leaves.
→ 32
32. Galeas 13–15 mm.
P. centranthera
32. Galeas 5–12 mm.
P. semibarbata
31. Racemes exceeding basal leaves.
→ 33
33. Galea apices straight.
→ 34
34. Corolla abaxial lips 3–7 mm.
P. aurantiaca
34. Corolla abaxial lips 8–15 mm.
P. densiflora
33. Galea apices arching over or beyond abaxial lips.
→ 35
35. Calyces glabrous or ciliate.
→ 36
36. Galeas yellow.
P. bracteosa
36. Galeas yellow proximally, dark red to purple distally.
P. flammea
35. Calyces hispid to tomentose, hirsute, or densely woolly.
→ 37
37. Racemes capitate, each 2–8-flowered, galea apices arching beyond abaxial lips.
P. capitata
37. Racemes simple, each 6–100-flowered, galea apices arching over or beyond abaxial lips.
→ 38
38. Galeas bicolored.
P. oederi
38. Galeas concolored.
→ 39
39. Corolla tubes light to dark yellow or dark blood red.
→ 40
40. Pedicels 0.5–1 mm.
P. bracteosa
40. Pedicels 1–3.5 mm.
P. rainierensis
39. Corolla tubes pink or reddish purple, rarely white.
→ 41
41. Bracts undivided.
P. dudleyi
41. Bracts 1-pinnatifid distally.
P. lanata
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 521. FNA vol. 17, p. 510. Author: Bruce W. Robart.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis Orobanchaceae
Sibling taxa
P. angustifolia, P. attollens, P. aurantiaca, P. bracteosa, P. canadensis, P. capitata, P. centranthera, P. chamissonis, P. contorta, P. crenulata, P. cystopteridifolia, 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
Subordinate taxa
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. labradorica, P. lanata, P. lanceolata, P. langsdorffii, P. lapponica, P. oederi, 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
Synonyms Elephantella, Pediculariopsis
Name authority Bentham: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 110. (1838) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 607. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 266. (1754)
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