Pedicularis racemosa |
Pedicularis lanceolata |
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leafy lousewort, parrot's-beak, sickletop lousewort, white sickletop lousewort |
swamp lousewort |
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Habit | Plants 0.5–15 cm. | Plants 20–100 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 0; cauline 10–30, blade lanceolate, 20–100 x 10–30 mm, 1-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, 2-serrate, surfaces hispid. |
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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. |
paniculate, 1, each 10–20-flowered; bracts lanceolate to trullate, 5–10 x 3–5 mm, undivided or 1-pinnatifid and 1- or 2-auricled, proximal margins entire, distal 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous or hispid. |
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Pedicels | 1–3.5 mm. |
1–1.5 mm. |
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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 7–12 mm, glabrous or hispid, lobes 2, trullate, ovate, elliptic, or triangular, 2.5–3.5 mm, apex serrate, glabrous, sometimes ciliate; corolla 16–22 mm, tube white, cream, or light yellow, 8–12 mm; galea white, cream, or light yellow, 8–12 mm, beaked, beak straight, 0.5–2.5 mm, margins entire medially and distally, apex extending over abaxial lip; abaxial lip white, cream, or light yellow, 7–10 mm. |
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2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
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Pedicularis racemosa |
Pedicularis lanceolata |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Wet meadows, fens, springs, moist prairies, swamps. | |||||
Elevation | 10–1100 m. (0–3600 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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AR; CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SD; TN; VA; WI; WV; MB; ON
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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.) |
The long corolla tubes of Pedicularis lanceolata are uncharacteristically nectarless, and only late season pollen-foraging worker bumblebees pollinate this species (L. W. Macior 1969). The uniquely hinged abaxial lip covering the opening of the galea is an adaptation to allow only worker bumblebees access to the anthers, as they must learn to push it aside during foraging. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 530. | FNA vol. 17, p. 525. | ||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis | Orobanchaceae > Pedicularis | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Douglas ex Bentham: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 108. (1838) | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 18. (1803) | ||||
Web links |