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Labrador lousewort, pédiculaire du Labrador

meadow lousewort, scalloped-leaf lousewort

Habit Plants 2–25 cm. Plants 10–40 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 8–10, blade narrowly elliptic to linear, 15–40 x 3–6 mm, undivided, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, 2-crenate, surfaces glabrous;

cauline 10–40, blade linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 10–60 x 2–6 mm, undivided, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, 2-crenate, surfaces glabrous.

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

bracts triangular or lanceolate to oblanceolate, 10–15 x 3–4 mm, undivided, proximal margins entire, distal crenate to 2-crenate, surfaces glabrous.

Pedicels

0.5–2 mm.

3–3.5 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 8.5–11 mm, hirsute along veins or glabrous, lobes 2, triangular, 0.5–1 mm, apex entire, glabrous or ciliate;

corolla 20–26 mm, tube light pink, rarely white, 12–15 mm;

galea reddish violet, sometimes white, 8–11 mm, beakless, margins entire medially, 1-toothed distally, apex arching over abaxial lip;

abaxial lip reddish violet, sometimes white, 4–8 mm.

2n

= 16.

Pedicularis labradorica

Pedicularis crenulata

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Open forests, tundras, heathlands, rocky slopes, muskegs. Moist grassy, sagebrush basins, alpine meadows.
Elevation 300–1100 m. (1000–3600 ft.) 1500–3200 m. (4900–10500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AB; BC; LB; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Asia (China, Russia)
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from FNA
CA; CO; MT; NE; NM; NV; WY
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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.)

Pedicularis crenulata is abundant in moist swales of alpine to subalpine sagebrush meadows of the mid to southern Rocky Mountains, as well as California and Nevada, where large populations with their reddish violet flowers create a distinctive swath across the otherwise green landscape. The undivided, nearly linear leaves with two-crenate margins are unique among North American species of Pedicularis. The galea bears a single apical tooth on each abaxial margin at the distal tip. Other species with the combination of two calyx lobes and undivided, linear to nearly linear leaves are P. angustifolia and P. racemosa.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 524. FNA vol. 17, p. 520.
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. capitata, P. centranthera, P. chamissonis, P. contorta, 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) Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 568. (1846)
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