Pedicularis semibarbata
Pedicularis groenlandica
pine woods lousewort, pinewoods pedicularis
bull elephant's-head, elephant's head, elephant's head pedicularis, elephant's-head lousewort, elephant-head lousewort, pédiculaire du groenland
basal 3–5, blade lanceolate or spatulate, 20–90 x 5–30 mm, undivided or 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, entire or dentate, surfaces glabrous or tomentose;
cauline 1 or 2, blade lanceolate, 25–80 x 5–10 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate to dentate, surfaces glabrous or tomentose.
basal 5–20, blade lanceolate, 20–150 x 5–25 mm, 1-pinnatifid or slightly 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous;
cauline 3–31, blade lanceolate, 10–150 x 1–25 mm, 1-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, serrate, surfaces glabrous.
simple, 1–5, not exceeding basal leaves, each 4–20-flowered;
bracts lanceolate to oblanceolate, 30–90 x 5–40 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid nearly to midrib, margins serrate to dentate, surfaces glabrous.
simple, 1 or 2, exceeding basal leaves, each 20–75-flowered;
bracts linear to trullate, 5–10 x 2–10 mm, undivided to pinnatifid, margins entire, serrate, or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous.
2–4 mm.
0.5–1 mm.
calyx 7–9 mm, glabrous or tomentose along veins, lobes 5, narrowly triangular, 1.5–5 mm, apex entire, glabrous or ciliate;
corolla 12–25 mm, tube light green or pale yellow, sometimes cream, 7–13 mm;
galea concolored, light green or pale yellow, sometimes cream, 5–12 mm, beakless, margins entire medially and distally, apex nearly straight to arching slightly over abaxial lip;
abaxial lip yellow, sometimes cream, 4–7 mm.
calyx 3–5 mm, glabrous or hispid, lobes 5, deltate, 0.5–1.5 mm, apex entire, glabrous;
corolla 5–8 mm, tube purple, rarely white, 3–5 mm;
galea pink to purple, rarely white, 1.5–3 mm, beaked, beak coiled, 5–18 mm, base curving, margins entire medially and distally, apex not surrounded by abaxial lip, axis of coil nearly horizontal;
abaxial lip pendulous, purple, rarely white, 2–5 mm.
= 16.
= 16.
Pedicularis semibarbata
Pedicularis groenlandica
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
The basal and cauline leaves of Pedicularis semibarbata are distinctly one- or two-pinnatifid into deep pinnae and narrow subpinnae with serrate margins. The leaves and bracts far exceed the length of the inflorescence, often concealing it. Obvious spatulate, tan-colored, undivided, and membranous leaves are proximal to the divided basal leaves, but they are not as conspicuous as those of P. centranthera, a species with a similar growth form. Proximal floral bracts of P. semibarbata are similar to basal and cauline leaves, whereas in some specimens the distal bracts are spatulate and either once-divided or merely serrate at the apex. Surfaces of the corolla tube and sometimes the galea as well are hispid.
Pedicularis semibarbata grows under ponderosa pine, incense cedar, sugar pine, and white fir, primarily in the southern Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains of California, and the Mount Charleston region of Nevada.
The flowers of Pedicularis semibarbata in Yosemite National Park were pollinated only by Osmia tristella (L. W. Macior 1977).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Pedicularis groenlandica has a domed galea, a long, curved beak, and relatively large lateral lobes of the abaxial lip that remarkably resemble the head, trunk, and ears of an elephant. Pedicularis groenlandica is the most widely distributed Pedicularis species in North America; it occurs from the southern Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains well into the Arctic and Greenland.
Pedicularis attollens and P. groenlandica are sympatric in the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades of central and southern Oregon and can be difficult to distinguish. Pedicularis groenlandica is distinguished by the size and orientation of the beak and color of the corolla; the beak is over twice the length of the beak of P. attollens and is oriented more horizontally compared to the upturned beak of P. attollens. Beak orientation is very difficult to ascertain in herbarium material due to flattening; beak length is a better character on herbarium specimens. The corollas of P. groenlandica are purple with lighter purple to pinkish abaxial lips, whereas the corollas of P. attollens vary from pink to light pink often with conspicuous dark purple spots on the galeas. White-flowered forms of P. groenlandica (forma pallida Lepage) are occasionally seen.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Corollas 12–20(–22) mm; leaf lobes 6–20 x 3–14 mm; outside of Mount Charleston region, Nevada. | subsp. semibarbata |
1. Corollas 20–25 mm; leaf lobes 3–12 x 1–8 mm; within Mount Charleston region, Nevada. | subsp. charlestonensis |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
WA
SW CO Wildflowers
