Pedicularis attollens
Little elephant's head, Little Elephant's Head
Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Little elephant's head is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, North Coast Ranges, and White and Inyo Mountains in wet meadows, streamsides, and bogs at elevations of 1,200 to 4,000 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces light pink to purple flowers with darker markings, featuring a distinctive curved upper lip that resembles an elephant's trunk. Growing with stems 6 to 60 centimeters tall that are woolly toward the tips, it forms delicate clusters in moist mountain habitats. Its basal leaves are nearly linear, divided into 17 to 41 narrow, toothed segments that create a finely textured green backdrop for the whimsical flowers. The small flowers have a curved upper lip 3.5 to 6 millimeters long with a short beak, giving the plant its charming elephant-like appearance.
Habitat: Wet meadows, streamsides, bogs
Bloom period: Jun-Sep
Elevation: 1200-4000 m
Bioregions: KR, CaR, SNH, MP, W&I
California counties: Tulare, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Mono, Butte, Fresno, Inyo, Mariposa, Trinity, Plumas, Madera, El Dorado, Tehama, Alpine, Sierra, Modoc, Placer, Nevada, Lassen, Shasta, Amador, Humboldt
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.