Pedicularis dudleyi

Dudley's lousewort

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Dudley's lousewort is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the Central Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, and southern coastal ranges in coastal chaparral and forest at elevations up to 600 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white flowers that transition to pink or lavender, with a distinctive club-like corolla 17 to 24 millimeters long, featuring a hooded upper lip that curves downward. Growing with soft-hairy stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it develops a delicate and intricate structure. Its basal leaves are lance-oblong, 3 to 26 centimeters long, with 15 to 25 well-separated segments that are oblong to ovate and doubly toothed or lobed. The fruit is 12 to 13 millimeters long with seeds featuring a distinctive netted surface.

Habitat: Coastal chaparral and forest

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: <= 600 m

Bioregions: CCo, SnFrB (Santa Cruz Mtns), SCoRO.

California counties: San Mateo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo

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