Kingdom Plantae Family Orobanchaceae Scientific name Pedicularis centranthera Rank Species | Order Lamiales Genus Pedicularis Higher classification Pedicularis | |
Similar Pedicularis, Pedicularis attollens, Pedicularis dudleyi, Pedicularis contorta, Pedicularis semibarbata | ||
Pedicularis centranthera is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common names dwarf lousewort and Great Basin lousewort. It is native to the western United States from eastern Oregon and California to Colorado and New Mexico, where it grows in sagebrush and other basin and plateau habitat. It is a perennial herb producing several short stems a few centimeters tall from a basal caudex. The leaves are up to 20 centimeters long, lance-shaped and divided into many overlapping toothed, wrinkled, or fringed lobes. The inflorescence is a short raceme bearing many long, protruding, club-shaped flowers. Each flower may exceed 4 centimeters in length and is white or pale purple with dark purple tips on the wide ends of its upper and lower lips. The sepals of the flowers are shorter and hairy. The fruit is a capsule around centimeter long containing seeds with netlike surfaces.