Southern Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Pedicularis canadensis L.
- Family: Figwort (Scrophulariaceae)
- Flowering: April-May
- Field Marks: The combination of deeply pinnately lobed leaves and terminal spikes of 2-lipped yellow flowers distinguishes this species.
- Habitat: Upland woods, along streams, low ground, prairies, high pinelands.
- Habit: Perennial herb with a spreading rootstock.
- Stems: Tufted, ascending to upright, smooth or hairy, unbranched, up to 1 1/2 feet tall.
- Leaves: Mostly alternate, simple, oblong to lanceolate, the lowest pinnately compound, the upper deeply pinnately lobed, rounded or pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, smooth or hairy, up to 5 inches long.
- Flowers: Several crowded into a terminal spike, subtended by toothed, hairy bracts; spikes up to 8 inches long.
- Sepals: Green, asymmetrical, united but split along one side, up to 1/4 inch long, sparsely hairy.
- Petals: United, 2-lipped with a cylindrical tube, the lower lip 3-lobed, yellow, up to 1 inch long.
- Stamens: 4, under the upper lip of the petals.
- Pistils: Ovary superior; style usually protruding above the upper lip, containing several oblongoid seeds.
- Fruits: Capsules lanceoloid, smooth, asymmetrical, up to 2/3 inch long.
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