Pedicularis racemosa

Plants 0.5–15 cm. Leaves: basal 0; cauline 8–25, blade linear or narrowly lanceolate, 10–80 x 3–15 mm, undivided, adjacent margins nonoverlapping, 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous. Racemes simple, 1–4, each 3–25-flowered; bracts lanceolate, 5–40 x 3–10 mm, undivided, proximal margins entire, distal 1- or 2-serrate, surfaces glabrous. Pedicels 1–3.5 mm. Flowers: calyx 4.5–7 mm, glabrous, lobes 2, triangular to deltate, 0.5–1 mm, apex entire, glabrous; corolla 10–15 mm, tube white or light pink, 6–9 mm; galea white or light pink, 4–6 mm, beaked, beak sickle-shaped, 5–8 mm, margins entire medially and distally, apex not extending beyond abaxial lip; abaxial lip white or light pink, 4–5 mm. 2n = 16.

Distribution

w North America.

Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Pedicularis racemosa occurs in the Rocky Mountains from southern Canada to New Mexico, in the Cascade Range from British Columbia to California, and in mountainous areas of Arizona.

Herbarium sheets of Pedicularis racemosa are sometimes misidentified as P. contorta or P. groenlandica, but the calyx has two lobes, not five as in the latter species. The uncoiled beak also bends downward from an undomed galea, which the large lateral lobes of the abaxial lip often conceal, whereas the coiled beaks of P. contorta and P. groenlandica are very noticeable.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Pedicularis racemosa subsp. alba, Pedicularis racemosa subsp. racemosa

Key

1	Corolla tubes light pink; cauline leaf blades narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, widest at middles.	Pedicularis racemosa subsp. racemosa
1	Corolla tubes white; cauline leaf blades linear to linear-lanceolate, widest near bases or at middles.	Pedicularis racemosa subsp. alba