Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Scrophulariaceae - Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis)

Wood Betony

(Pedicularis canadensis)

Color Photograph: Southern wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, South National Technical Center.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis L.)

Identification: Flowers yellow (although sometimes red), with a tubular corolla. Upper 2 petal lobes fused into a convex, hoodlike structure with a descending pistil arising from the tip of the hood. Lower 3 petal lobes fused into a lower 3-lobed banner. Flowers clumped near the apex of the plant. Stems hairy. Leaves elongate, alternate, softly hairy, and heavily lobed. Lower leaves with long petioles. Plant 5 to 14 inches in height.

Distribution: Manitoba in the west to New England in the east, southward to Florida and Mississippi. Also occurs in central North America.

Habitat: Wood Betony is found in forest and woodland clearings.

Flowering period: April to June.

Similar Species: Swamp Lousewort is a similar species. Hower the foliage of Swamp Lousewort is smooth, not hairy. The lower leaves are sessile to the stem without long petioles.