[Louseworts: The Genus Pedicularis in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Bracted Lousewort, Towering Lousewort

Pedicularis bracteosa var. flavida

Synonym: Pedicularis flavida

The photo above shows a close-up of the corolla and sepals of bracted louwewort (var. bracteosa). The upper lip of the corolla is slightly beaked, while the slender lateral lobes of the sepals (see lowermost calyx) are lined with glandular hairs, a characteristic of this variety, which can also have purplish corollas (See photo below.). Photographed in meadows immediately north of Hellroaring Creek adjacent to the Island Springs Trail #66 on Yakama Nation lands at the southeastern corner of Mt. Adams.......July 17, 2005.

Photo at right of bracted lousewort from Paddy Go Easy Pass, Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the central Washington Cascades.........July 24, 1996.

Characteristics:

Bracted lousewort is a fairly attractive and distinct perennial wildflower with erect, unbranched stems from 60 to 90 cm high. The herbage is smooth or glabrous below the inflorescence although some varieties may have hairs or glands within the inflorescence. The leaves are short-petiolate or sessile and alternate along the stem. The pinnately compound leaves are larger as basal leaves and become reduced and bract-like near the inflorescence. Individual leaflets are linear-oblong to lanceolate and range form 1-7 cm in length. The leaflets also range from deeply toothed to divided.

The inflorescence is a dense bract-like spike with yellow, white, or reddish flowers individually fused into a tube with an upper hooded lobe and a lower lip of three smaller lobes. The corolla ranges from 13-21 mm in length. The sepals are fused with 5 teeth. The 4 stamens are fused to the petal tube.

Habitat:

Bracted lousewort may be found in subalpine woods and in moist slopes and meadows in the mountains.

Range:

Bracted lousewort may be found from British Columbia south to northern California through the Cascades, and eastward to Alberta and south through the Rocky Mts. to Colorado.

In the Columbia River Gorge it is found between the elevations of 3300'-4400' in and about the Columbia Wilderness.

The photo above shows a close-up of a purplish-flowered bracted lousewort (var. bracteosa) as seen in upper Bird Creek Meadows at the southeastern corner of Mt. Adams.......July 31, 2005. Note the gland-tipped hairs lining the margins of the sepals which is one characteristic of this variety.

The photo above shows the pinnately compound stem leaf of bracted lousewort (var. bracteosa). Note that the leaflets are toothed. Photographed in meadows immediately north of Hellroaring Creek adjacent to the Island Springs Trail #66 on Yakama Nation lands at the southeastern corner of Mt. Adams......July 17, 2005.

Paul Slichter