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

Labrador lousewort, pédiculaire du Labrador

capitate lousewort, pédiculaire capitée

Habit Plants 2–25 cm. Plants 2–13.5 cm.
Leaves

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.

basal 2 or 3, blade ovate or elliptic, 10–40 x 5–20 mm, 2(or 3)-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or extensively overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces glabrous or hirsute;

cauline 0–2, blade elliptic, 5–25 x 5–10 mm, 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or extensively overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces scattered hispid.

Racemes

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.

simple, capitate, 1 or 2, exceeding basal leaves, each 2–8-flowered;

bracts subulate to narrowly lanceolate, 10–20(–50) x 6–8 mm, undivided proximally, undivided or 1- or 2-pinnatifid distally, proximal margins entire, distal serrate, surfaces sparsely tomentose.

Pedicels

0.5–2 mm.

2–3 mm.

Flowers

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.

calyx 10–15 mm, hirsute, lobes 5, triangular to spatulate, 4–6 mm, apex serrate, glabrous;

corolla 19–40 mm, tube light yellow, sometimes cream to pink, 5–20 mm;

galea light yellow, sometimes cream to pink, apically sometimes diffuse purple, 12–20 mm, beakless, margins entire medially and distally, apex arching beyond abaxial lip;

abaxial lip light yellow, sometimes cream to pink, 10–15 mm.

2n

= 16.

= 16 (Asia).

Pedicularis labradorica

Pedicularis capitata

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Open forests, tundras, heathlands, rocky slopes, muskegs. Moist arctic and alpine tundras, heathlands, alpine slopes.
Elevation 300–1100 m. (1000–3600 ft.) 10–2100 m. (0–6900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AB; BC; LB; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Asia (China, Russia)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AB; BC; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; n Asia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Inflorescences of Pedicularis capitata display no more than five clustered flowers; the long, vertical corolla tube and curved galea that arches over the appressed, broad lobes of the abaxial lip are distinctive. The tip of the galea can be the same color as the corolla tube and abaxial lip but sometimes is a diffuse pink to purple and not distinctly bicolored as in the galeas of P. flammea or P. oederi, with which it is often confused.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 524. FNA vol. 17, p. 517.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis
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. 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
P. angustifolia, P. attollens, P. aurantiaca, P. bracteosa, P. canadensis, 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
Synonyms P. labradorica var. sulphurea
Name authority Wirsing: Eclog. Bot. [2], plate 10. (1778) Adams: Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 5: 100. (1817)
Web links