Pedicularis contorta

Bentham in W. J. Hooker

Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 108. 1838.

Common names: Coil-beaked or coiled lousewort
Endemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 17. Treatment on page 519. Mentioned on page 511, 512, 530.
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Plants 10–50 cm. Leaves: basal 3–10, blade lanceolate, 30–100 x 5–30 mm, 1-pinnatifid or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous; cauline 2–10, blade elliptic or triangular to lanceolate, 5–70 x 10–25 mm, 1-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping, entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous. Racemes simple, 1–6, exceeding basal leaves, each 12–40-flowered; bracts trullate to obtrullate, 5–18 x 2–15 mm, pinnatifid, margins entire, surfaces glabrous. Pedicels 1.5–5.5 mm. Flowers: calyx 5–9 mm, glabrous, lobes 5, triangular, 1–3 mm, apex entire, glabrous; corolla 7–13 mm, tube white or cream to yellowish or pink to pinkish purple, 4–7 mm; galea white or cream to yellowish with purple spots at base, or pink to pinkish purple, 2–5.5 mm, beaked, beak coiled, 5–9 mm, base curving, margins entire medially and distally, apex surrounded by abaxial lip, axis of coil nearly vertical; abaxial lip surrounding beak, white or cream to yellowish, or pink to pinkish purple, 5–8 mm.

Distribution

Alta., B.C., Calif., Idaho, Mont., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

The coiled beak that extends directly downward from the top of the galea is distinctive in Pedicularis contorta. Seen from the side, the large, upward-expanded, lateral lobes of the abaxial lip surround the beak, concealing it from view. The flowers of P. contorta are very similar to those of P. racemosa; however, the leaves of P. racemosa are undivided, the beak curves down and to one side, and the inflorescence often branches, forming a panicle of short racemes with long internodes between flowers.

Flower and calyx color and width of the subtending floral bracts delimit three varieties in Pedicularis contorta; corolla color is difficult to discern in herbarium specimens. The following key is adapted from R. N. Reese (1984).

Selected References

None.

Key

1 Corolla tubes, galeas, and abaxial lips white or cream to yellowish, galeas with purple spots at base; calyces pale green. Pedicularis contorta var. contorta
1 Corolla tubes, galeas, and abaxial lips pink to pinkish purple; calyces green or reddish with purple spots. > 2
2 Calyces green; bracts 5–8 mm wide, proximal margins ciliate. Pedicularis contorta var. ctenophora
2 Calyces reddish with purple spots; bracts 2–4 mm wide, proximal margins glabrous. Pedicularis contorta var. rubicunda
... more about "Pedicularis contorta"
cream +  and yellowish or pink +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
beakless +  and beaked +
Bruce W. Robart +
Bentham in W. J. Hooker +
curving +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
1-pinnatifid;triangular;lanceolate +
not leathery +  and not fleshy +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br />) +
pinnatifid +, trullate +  and obtrullate +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
tubular +, campanulate +  and symmetric +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br />) +
fleshy +  and woody +
whorled +  and alternate +
Coil-beaked or coiled lousewort +
white +, yellow +, red +, purple +  and pink +
cylindric +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
Alta. +, B.C. +, Calif. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Oreg. +, Utah +, Wash. +  and Wyo. +
hairy +  and glabrous +
2 +  and 1 +
indehiscent +, septicidal +, loculicidal +  and dehiscence +
pink +  and pinkish purple +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br />) +
axillary +  and terminal +
spiral +, whorled +, alternate +  and opposite +
deciduous +
basal +  and cauline +
triangular +
entire +  and serrate +
nonoverlapping +
crenate +  and serrate +
tenuinucellate +  and unitegmic +
campylotropous-like +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br />) +
Fl. Bor.-Amer. +
12-40-flowered;simple +
tan;brown;tan;brown;dark gray +
5 +  and 100 +
5 +  and 2 +
subequal +
aerial +  and subterranean +
woolly +, villous +, hispid +  and glabrous +
glabrous;glabrous;glabrous +
Elephantella +  and Pediculariopsis +
Pedicularis contorta +
Pedicularis +
species +
cream;yellowish or pink +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +