Distribution: Widely distributed throughout the mountainous areas of Washington; British Columbia south to California, east to Montana, Colorado and New Mexico.
Habitat: Common in open forests at moderate to high elevations in the mountains.
Flowers: June-August
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Perennial
Conservation Status: Not of concern
Pollination: Bumblebees, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Erect perennial from coarse, fibrous roots, the stems usually simple, several from the base, up to 1 m. tall; herbage glabrous below the inflorescence.
Cauline leaves alternate, numerous, short-petiolate or sessile, pinnatifid, the principal segments distinct, linear-oblong to lanceolate, 1-7 cm. long, somewhat incised and again finely serrate; uppermost leaf segments smaller; basal leaves similar, but with longer petioles, or wanting.
Inflorescence a dense, spike-like raceme; calyx lobes 5, the upper much the shortest, the others partly attached into 2 lateral segments; corolla 13-21 mm. long, purple or red to bronze or yellow, bilabiate, the upper lip beakless, hooded, enclosing the 4 stamens, about as long as the tube; the lower lip much shorter, 3-lobed; stigma capitate.
Capsule glabrous, flattened, curved.
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var. atrosanguinea – bracted lousewort
Endemic to Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island. -
var. bracteosa – bracted lousewort British Columbia to Oregon, east to Idaho, Alberta and Montana
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var. flavida – bracted lousewort
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var. latifolia – bracted lousewort In the Cascades of Washington and southern British Columbia, and northern Idaho
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var. pachyrhiza – bracted lousewort
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var. siifolia – bracted lousewort
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Pedicularis bracteosa in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Pedicularis bracteosa checklist entry
OregonFlora: Pedicularis bracteosa information
E-Flora BC: Pedicularis bracteosa atlas page
CalPhotos: Pedicularis bracteosa photos
