Pedicularis chamissonis

Steven

Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 6: 20, plate 4, fig. 1. 1822.

Common names: Chamisso’s lousewort
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 17. Treatment on page 519. Mentioned on page 511, 534.

Plants 10–25 cm. Leaves: basal 5–15, blade lanceolate, 15–40 x 10–20 mm, 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, serrate, surfaces glabrous; cauline whorled, whorls 1–4, leaves per whorl 3–5, blade lanceolate, 10–60 x 10–30 mm, 1- or 2-pinnatifid, margins of adjacent lobes nonoverlapping or slightly overlapping distally, entire or serrate, surfaces glabrous. Racemes verticillate, 1–3, exceeding basal leaves, each 8–20-flowered; bracts lanceolate to subulate, 10–30 x 5–10 mm, 1-pinnatifid or undivided, margins serrate to 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous. Pedicels 1.5–2.5 mm. Flowers: calyx 6–8 mm, glabrous, lobes 5, triangular, 0.5–1.4 mm, apex entire, ciliate; corolla 18–20 mm, tube white to pink, 12–15 mm; galea purple, 6–8 mm, beaked, beak straight, 1–3 mm, margins entire medially and distally, apex extending beyond abaxial lip; abaxial lip pink or purple, 4–5 mm.


Phenology: Flowering Jul–Sep.
Habitat: Arctic meadows, tundras.
Elevation: 10–300 m.

Discussion

Pedicularis chamissonis differs from P. verticillata by having leaves and flowers about 1.5 times larger with a galea that is extended into a conical beak, leaves lanceolate versus elliptic, and lateral lobes of the abaxial lip more than twice the size and more pendulous.

Pedicularis chamissonis is chiefly an Asian species, found on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, and Japan; the only North American populations occur in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.