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Pedicularis bracteosa
Also called Betony, Bracteate Lousewort, Bracted Pedicularis, Towering Lousewort, Western Lousewort
Bracted lousewort is a tall, deciduous perennial wildflower native to mountain meadows and forests of western North America, grown mainly for its dense spikes of yellow to purple flowers. It is a hemiparasite that draws some nutrients from neighbouring plant roots, so it is best grown in the wild or in native plantings rather than typical garden beds.
Pedicularis bracteosa also known as bracted lousewort is a flowering deciduous perennial plant with alternating cauline leaves that are linear/oblong to lanceolate, approximately 1 to 7 cm long. It has fibrous roots and grows to approximately 1 meter high. Its flowers form in densely clustered spike raceme, and range in color from yellow to bronze to red to purple. Its distribution is found in western North America including New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, mountainous parts of Washington and California, and in British Columbia.
Historically, the leaves have been used as an alternative treatment for skeletal muscle relaxation.
Pedicularis asplenifolia · Little elephantshead · Pedicularis bhutanomuscoides · Pedicularis cacuminidenta · Pedicularis caeruleoalbescens · Canadian lousewort · Dwarf lousewort · Coiled lousewort · Arctic Hairy Lousewort · Indian warrior · Pedicularis dhurensis · Dudley's lousewort
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pedicularis bracteosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
