Pedicularis semibarbata

Bearded lousewort

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bearded lousewort is a California native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges, high Cascades, Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in dry ridgetops and conifer forest, often with red fir, at elevations of 1,500 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces yellow flowers with red or purple tints, approximately 15 to 24 millimeters long, with a hooded upper lip and rounded lower lip. Growing with mostly underground stems 3 to 20 centimeters tall and a long caudex, it has a delicate, sparse tomentose appearance. Its basal leaves are 5 to 22 centimeters long, with 11 to 25 lanceolate to ovate segments that are toothed or lobed. The fruit is 6.5 to 10 millimeters long, with smooth seeds 3.5 to 4.5 millimeters in size.

Habitat: dry ridgetops, conifer forest, often with red fir

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 1500-3500 m

Bioregions: NCoRH, CaRH, SN, TR, PR

California counties: San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Tulare, Tuolumne, Placer, Inyo, Amador, Fresno, Butte, El Dorado, Madera, Mariposa, Kern, Siskiyou, Shasta, Lassen, Plumas, Nevada, Sierra, Alpine, Glenn, Mono, Riverside, Ventura, San Diego, Modoc, Tehama, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, Trinity, Lake, Colusa, Humboldt, Calaveras

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