Pedicularis parryi |
Pedicularis ornithorhyncha |
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Parry's lousewort |
bird's-beak lousewort, ducksbill lousewort |
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Habit | Plants 7–65 cm. | Plants 10–25 cm. | ||||||||
Leaves | basal 4–20, blade elliptic or lanceolate to oblanceolate, 10–70 x 3–15 mm, 1-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous; cauline 0–20, blade lanceolate, 10–50 x 2–10 mm, 1-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces glabrous or tomentose. |
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. |
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Racemes | simple, 1–10, exceeding basal leaves, each 5–50-flowered; bracts subulate to trullate, 10–25 x 8–10 mm, undivided or +/- lobed, proximal margins entire, distal serrate or crenate, surfaces glabrous 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. |
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Pedicels | 2–3 mm. |
3–6 mm. |
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Flowers | calyx 6–10 mm, glabrous or tomentose, lobes 5, triangular to deltate, 1–3 mm, apex entire, glabrous; corolla 14–22 mm, tube white, yellowish, or light purple to purple, 7–15 mm; galea white, yellowish, or light purple to purple, 7–10 mm, beaked, beak straight, 5–8 mm, margins entire medially and distally, apex extending beyond abaxial lip; abaxial lip white, yellowish, or light purple to purple, 4–9 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. |
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2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
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Pedicularis parryi |
Pedicularis ornithorhyncha |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Sep. | |||||||||
Habitat | Moist alpine meadows, heathlands, tundras. | |||||||||
Elevation | 200–2400 m. (700–7900 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; UT; WY
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AK; WA; BC
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Discussion | Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora). Pedicularis parryi is characterized by a domed galea with a conical beak and light green calyces and floral bracts with dark purple stripes. The beaked galea extends well beyond the expanded lobes of the abaxial lip. Pedicularis parryi is an alpine complex. Corolla color, number of cauline leaves, and bract margin variation are important features differentiating infraspecific taxa within P. parryi (G. D. Carr 1971, from which the following key is adapted). (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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 528. | FNA vol. 17, p. 526. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis | Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | A. Gray: Amer. J. Sci. Arts, ser. 2, 34: 250. (1862) | Bentham: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 108. (1838) | ||||||||
Web links |