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leafy lousewort, parrot's-beak, sickletop lousewort, white sickletop lousewort

hairy lousewort, pédiculaire hirsute

Habit Plants 0.5–15 cm. Plants 3–15 cm.
Leaves

basal 0;

cauline 8–25, blade linear or narrowly lanceolate, 10–80 x 3–15 mm, undivided, adjacent margins nonoverlapping, 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous.

basal 3–10, blade elliptic to lanceolate, 5–20 x 2–5 mm, 1(or 2)-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces glabrous;

cauline 3–10, blade lanceolate to oblanceolate, 5–30 x 1–7 mm, 1-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces glabrous.

Racemes

simple, 1–4, each 3–25-flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 5–40 x 3–10 mm, undivided, proximal margins entire, distal 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous.

simple, 1–10, exceeding basal leaves, each 5–25-flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 5–15 x 1–5 mm, 1-pinnatifid 1/2–3/4 to midrib, proximal margins entire, distal serrate, surfaces densely wooly.

Pedicels

1–3.5 mm.

2–5 mm.

Flowers

calyx 4.5–7 mm, glabrous, lobes 2, triangular to deltate, 0.5–1 mm, apex entire, glabrous;

corolla 10–15 mm, tube white or light pink, 6–9 mm;

galea white or light pink, 4–6 mm, beaked, beak sickle-shaped, 5–8 mm, margins entire medially and distally, apex not extending beyond abaxial lip;

abaxial lip white or light pink, 4–5 mm.

calyx 7–10 mm, densely woolly, lobes 5, triangular, 1–4 mm, apex entire or serrate, glabrous or ciliate;

corolla 11–19 mm, tube pale pink, sometimes white, 6–14 mm;

galea pale pink, sometimes white, 4–7 mm, beakless, margins entire medially, 1-toothed distally, apex nearly straight to arching slightly over abaxial lip;

abaxial lip pale pink, sometimes white, 4–5 mm.

2n

= 16.

= 16.

Pedicularis racemosa

Pedicularis hirsuta

Phenology Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat Tundra bogs, stream and lake banks.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; LB; NT; NU; QC; Greenland; Eurasia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Pedicularis racemosa occurs in the Rocky Mountains from southern Canada to New Mexico, in the Cascade Range from British Columbia to California, and in mountainous areas of Arizona.

Herbarium sheets of Pedicularis racemosa are sometimes misidentified as P. contorta or P. groenlandica, but the calyx has two lobes, not five as in the latter species. The uncoiled beak also bends downward from an undomed galea, which the large lateral lobes of the abaxial lip often conceal, whereas the coiled beaks of P. contorta and P. groenlandica are very noticeable.

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

Pedicularis hirsuta can be difficult to distinguish from P. lanata. Unlike P. lanata, the galea subapex of P. hirsuta is toothed. Floral surfaces of P. lanata are sparsely to densely hirsute; those of P. hirsuta are glabrous. On fresh specimens, the roots of P. hirsuta are pale yellow; those of P. lanata are bright yellow.

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

Key
1. Corolla tubes light pink; cauline leaf blades narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, widest at middles.
subsp. racemosa
1. Corolla tubes white; cauline leaf blades linear to linear-lanceolate, widest near bases or at middles.
subsp. alba
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 530. FNA vol. 17, p. 523.
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. 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. 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. crenulata, P. cystopteridifolia, P. densiflora, P. dudleyi, P. flammea, P. furbishiae, P. groenlandica, 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. racemosa subsp. alba, P. racemosa subsp. racemosa
Name authority Douglas ex Bentham: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 108. (1838) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 609. (1753)
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