Pedicularis lanceolata

Native

Wet. Meadows, prairies, marshes, shores.

August to September

White

12″ to 36″

This is a 12″ to 36″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on usually a solitary stem.

The stems are erect but recline with age. They are hollow, 4-angled with rounded angles, unbranched or with a few branches, and green with purple vertical stripes between the nodes. They are mostly hairless but have vertical lines of hairs along the purple stripes.

The leaves are mostly opposite, linear oblong to oblong lance-shaped, 1½″ to 3½″ long, and ⅜″ to ¾″ wide. They may be stalkless or on leaf stalks up to ⅜″ long. They are pinnately lobed with shallow, rounded lobes cut less than half way to the midrib. The upper surface is deep green, sparsely hairy, with indented (impressed) lateral veins. The lower surface is lighter green, sparsely hairy, with raised (prominent) lateral veins. The margins of the lobes have fine, rounded teeth.

The inflorescence is a ¾″ to 4″ long, cone-shaped spike at the end of the stem and sometimes also from upper leaf axils. They have a conspicuous pinwheel arrangement, with the flowers sticking out at right angles to the central axis.

The individual flowers are stalkless and subtended by a single leaf-like bract. The calyx is ⅓″ to ½″ long with 2 spreading, rounded lobes. There are 5 white petals forming a ⅔″ to 1″ long, tubular, 2-lipped corolla.The upper 2 petals are fused into convex, 1-lobed, hood-like lip (galea) from which the pistil protrudes. The galea is not toothed. The lower 3 petals are fused into a banner that is about as long as the galea and has 3 rounded lobes. The 4 stamens are contained within the galea.

The fruit is a dry, egg-shaped capsule with uneven sides. It is mostly hidden by the calyx.

Wood betony (P. canadensis ssp. canadensis) is a much shorter plant, reaching only 4″ to 16″ at maturity. It usually forms clumps. Most of the leaves are in a crowded, basal rosette. Stem leaves are alternate, not opposite. The lower stem leaves are on long stalks. All leaves are more deeply lobed, the lobes cut more than half way to the midrib. The inflorescence is up to 4″ long. The flowers are yellow. There are 2 small teeth just below the tip of the galea. The lower lip is shorter than the galea. It blooms much earlier, April to June. It is found in dry to moist, not wet, locations.

Taxonomy
The genus Pedicularis, formerly belonging the family Scrophulariaceae (figwort), has recently been reclassified into the family Orobanchaceae (broomrape). Most field guides and other sources still show the former classification.