Pedicularis asplenifolia
| Pedicularis asplenifolia | |
|---|---|
| In Lienz District, Tyrol, Austria | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Orobanchaceae |
| Genus: | Pedicularis |
| Species: | P. asplenifolia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pedicularis asplenifolia | |
Pedicularis asplenifolia, also known as fern-leaved lousewort, is a species of lousewort that grows in the Alps.
Description
Fern-leaved lousewort is a small plant growing just 2 to 8 centimeters tall. It has stems that either curve to grow upwards or grow straight up from the base of the plant. They are hairless below but lanate, covered in woolly hairs, toward the top. Its leaves are narrowly lanceolate, shaped like the head of a spear, in outline and pinnatisect, deeply divided like those of many ferns.[1]
It blooms with a dense, head-like raceme, that may have two to eight flowers, but usually not more than five. The flowers are 17 millimeter long tubes that are red with a pink tone.[1]
Taxonomy
Pedicularis asplenifolia was scientifically described and named by Heinrich Gustav Flörke in 1800 based on work by Carl Ludwig Willdenow. It is classified in the genus Pedicularis within the family Orobanchaceae. It has no synonyms.[2]
Names
Pedicularis asplenifolia is known as fern-leaved lousewort.[3]
Range and habitat
Pedicularis asplenifolia grows in the central and eastern Alps in Italy, Switzerland, and Austria.[2] It grows on alkaline soils and rocks in alpine habitats.[1]
Ecology
Though, like most louseworts in the Alps, its flowers are adapted to be pollinated by bumblebees,[4] it will often self-pollinate.[5]
Genetic evidence and climate modeling indicate that during the Last Glacial Maximum fern-leaved lousewort was found both in areas around the ice sheet that covered the Aps and on nunataks within it.[6]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Mayer 1972, p. 276.
- ^ a b POWO 2025.
- ^ Barneby 1967, p. plate 76.
- ^ Pan et al. 2020, p. 173.
- ^ Kreisch 1993, p. 76–77.
- ^ Pan et al. 2020, p. 178.
Sources
- Books
- Barneby, T. P. (1967). European Alpine Flowers in Colour (First ed.). London: Thomas Nelson and Sons. OCLC 972083. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
- Mayer, E. (1972). "Pedicularis". In Tutin, T.G.; Heywood, V.H.; Burges, N.A.; Moore, D.M.; Valentine, D.H.; Walters, S.M.; Webb, D.A. (eds.). Flora Europaea. Vol. 3 Diapensiaceae to Myoporaceae. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-521-22493-2. OCLC 1301968828. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
- Journals
- Kreisch, Werner F. (1993). "Zur Blühphänologie und Blütenbiologie der frühblühen- den entemophilen Arten einer subnivalen Pflanzengemeinschaft am Brennkogel (Glocknergruppe)" [On the flowering phenology and flower biology of early-flowering entomophilous species in a subnival plant community on the Brennkogel (Glockner Group)] (PDF). Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen aus dem Nationalpark Hohe Tauern (in German). 1: 72–83. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
- Pan, Da; Hülber, Karl; Willner, Wolfgang; Schneeweiss, Gerald M. (January 2020). "An explicit test of Pleistocene survival in peripheral versus nunatak refugia in two high mountain plant species". Molecular Ecology. 29 (1): 172–183. doi:10.1111/mec.15316. PMC 7003806.
- Web sources
- POWO (2025). "Pedicularis asplenifolia Flörke ex Willd". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 December 2025.