Pedicularis centranthera

Great basin lousewort, Great Basin Lousewort

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Great basin lousewort is a rare (CNPS 2B.3) California native perennial found in southeastern Modoc Plateau in eastern Lassen County on sagebrush scrub and alluvial fans at elevations of 1,300 to 1,500 meters. Flowering in May, this plant produces pale purple flowers with darker tips, approximately 30 to 42 millimeters long, featuring a hooded upper lip and widely rounded lower lip with wavy margins. Growing with compact stems 4 to 10 centimeters tall and a long caudex, it develops basal leaves up to 20 centimeters long with distinctive segmented foliage. Its leaves have 13 to 25 oblong segments with wavy, white-thickened margins that are crenate, dentate, or lobed. The fruit is 10 to 13 millimeters long with seeds featuring a shallowly netted surface.

Habitat: Sagebrush scrub, alluvial fans

Bloom period: May

Elevation: 1300-1500 m

Bioregions: se MP (e Lassen Co.)

California counties: Lassen

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.