Pedicularis
(from pediculus, a louse; it was supposed to cause sheep to be infested with that insect). Lousewort. ORD. Scrophularineae. Of this genus, above 120 species have been enumerated; they are mostly hardy perennial (rarely annual?) herbs, broadly dispersed, but mainly in the Northern hemisphere. Flowers in bracteate spikes or racemes, honeyed, often secund; calyx tubular or campanulate, two or five-toothed; corolla with a cylindrical or swollen tube, and a bilabiate limb, the upper lip of which is galeated. Leaves alternate or whorled, very rarely sub-opposite, once or much-pinnately divided, rarely simple and toothed; floral ones decreasing, mostly bract-like. Some of the species are pretty little plants; they succeed if planted in a moist, peaty soil, and are propagated most readily from seeds. A selection of the species best known to cultivation is given below; they are hardy perennials, except where otherwise indicated. Most of the species are not long-lived in cultivation; they are probably all more or less parasitic on the roots of other plants.
P. canadensis (Canadian). Wood Betony. fl. wholly cream-colour, or with the obtuse, bidentate galea of the corolla purple; calyx hairy. July and August. l. pinnatifid, with obtuse, crenated segments. Stem simple. h. 6in. to 12in. North America, 1780. (B. M. 2506; S. B. F. G. 67.)
P. comosa (tufted). fl. usually cream-coloured, in a short, dense spike; galea of corolla obtuse, bidentate. July and August. l. pinnate; leaflets pinnatifid and toothed. Stem simple, downy. h. 6in. to 2ft. Eastern Europe, &c., 1775.
P. dolichorhiza (long-rooted).* fl. golden-yellow, in a terminal spike; upper lip of corolla curved down into a short, straight beak; lower lip trilobed. Summer. l. pinnate, with toothed leaflets. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Eastern Europe, &c., 1884. A pretty plant. (R. G. 1884, p. 54.)
P. flammea (flame-coloured).* fl. pale red; galea of corolla very blunt, rounded. May and June. l. pinnate; leaflets roundish, imbricated backwards, doubly toothed. Stem simple. h. 6in. to 12in. Arctic Norway, Iceland, &c., 1775.
P. flava (yellow). fl. yellow, striped with red; calyx woolly; galea of corolla obtuse, very convex, bidentate. July. l. fleshy, deeply pinnatifid, with distant, oblong, coarsely and doubly-toothed segments. Stem simple. h. 6in. Siberia, 1828.
P. foliosa (leafy). fl. cream-colour, in a dense spike; galea of corolla downy or glabrous, very blunt. July. l. pinnatifid, with lanceolate, unequally-toothed segments. Stem simple, short and almost naked, or tall and leafy. h. 6in. to 3ft. Europe, 1786. (J. F. A. 139.)
P. incarnata (flesh-coloured). fl. pale red; calyx hoary-pubescent; galea of corolla with an obtuse or emarginate, falcate beak. June and July. l. deeply pinnatifid, with unequally-toothed, linear-lanceolate segments. Stem simple. h. 1ft. Europe, &c., 1796. (J. F. A. 140.)
P. megalantha (large-flowered). fl. yellow; corolla large, with a tube twice as long as the calyx; beak of galea proboscis-like, twisted and trifid; pedicels and calyces villous. June. l. pinnatifid, with oblong or ovate, pinnatifid or serrate segments. Stem simple. h. 6in. to 12in. Himalayas, 1836. (R. G. 943.)
P. palustris (marsh-loving). fl. dull pink; upper lip of corolla obtusely three-lobed, lower broad. May to September. l. 1in. to 3in. long, linear-oblong, pinnate; segments oblong, crenate, obtuse or pinnatifid, the ultimate ones rounded. Stem stout, erect, branched above. h. 6in. to 18in. Europe (Britain). (F.D. 2055; Sy. En. B. 996.)
P. recutita (circumcised). fl. purple, in a compact, leafy spike; calyx sometimes hairy; galea of corolla very blunt. July and August. l. pinnatifid, with deeply-toothed segments. Stem simple. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Central Europe, 1787. The habit of this species is singular, the leaves being collected under the spike. (J. F. A. 258.) P. rostrata (beaked). fl. purple, borne in a few-flowered raceme; galea of corolla falcately beaked, the beak truncate at apex. July and August. l. pinnate; leaflets or segments pinnatifid. Stem declinate. h. 3in. to 9in. Western Europe, 1819. (J. F. A. 205.)
P. Sceptrum-Carolinum (Charles's Sceptre).* fl. golden-yellow, twin or tern, disposed in an interrupted spike; corolla 1in. long, the lower lip tinged with purple or blood-color. August. l. pinnatifid, with ovate, crenulated lobes. Stem few-leaved. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Europe, 1793. (F. D. 26.)
P. spicata (spicate-flowered). fl. purple, disposed in a dense, elongated spike; galea of corolla straight, obtuse. June. l. four (or sometimes five) in a whorl, pinnatifid, with obtuse segments, the uppermost ones often quite entire. h. 1ft. Dahuria, 1827.
P. sylvatica (sylvan). Red Rattle. fl. rose-colour, loosely spicate; corolla 1in. long, with a slender tube. April to July. l. much as in P. palustris, but having the segments acute. Stems many, 3in. to 10in. long, decumbent, and ascending from a very short rootstock, leafy. Europe (Britain). (F. D. 225; Sy. En. B. 997.)
P. versicolor (various-coloured). fl. parti-coloured, red and yellow, or pure yellow, disposed in an oblong spike; galea straight, obtuse, angular in front, with the apex reflexed. June to August. l. pinnate; segments or leaflets imbricated backwards, serrated. Root fasciculately tuberous. h. 6in. to 12in. Siberia, 1819.
P. verticillata (whorled).* fl. rose-colour or white, pedicellate; galea of corolla straight, toothless and beardless; spikes dense, or interrupted at the base. May and June. l. pinnate or pinnatifid, with oblong or ovate, obtuse, toothed segments. Stem erect, nearly simple. h. 6in. to 12in. Europe, 1790.