Pedicularis dasyantha

Pedicularis dasyantha

Pedicularis dasyantha is a species of the genus lousewort ( Pedicularis ) in the family of broomrape family ( Orobanchaceae ). Like all lice herb species it is a semi- parasitic.

Description

Appearance and leaf

Pedicularis dasyantha grows often than not long living perennial herbaceous plant, reaching heights of growth 10 to 15 centimeters. It has a thick, yellow taproot that forms a few main lateral roots. The caudex is usually 0.5 to 1 (up to 1.5 ) inches thick and ends in one or more rosettes. The 10 to 15 ( to 20) centimeters high Stems are densely pubescent with white, multicellular trichomes.

In the leaf rosettes numerous leaves are arranged opposite one another. The 8 to 12 cm long leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The narrowly winged petiole, about half of the total leaf length. The outline in wrong - lanceolate to tongue-shaped leaf blades are pinnate to pinnately lobed, notched at the leaf margins or slightly lobed to moderate. The leaf blades are sparse at the Spreitenspitze and hairy to Spreitengrund a tight fashion.

Inflorescence and flower

The usually 8 to 15, rarely up to 25 flowers are borne in a short, dense racemose inflorescence. The peduncle is short. The lower bracts ( bracts ) are longer and the upper shorter than the flowers; they are pinnately lobed with widened midrib. The stems of the bracts are broadly winged and have to two-thirds of the total length of the bracts.

The upright flower is zygomorphic and fünfzählig double perianth. The five sepals are fused Roehrig. The dense trichomes with long fluffy hairy calyx is moderately zweilippig and ends in five obtuse to acute calyx teeth. The five dark - purple to white, 12-20 mm long petals are fused Roehrig. The three-lobed lower lip and the helmet-shaped, laterally compressed upper lip are hairy fluffy. The side lobes of the lower lip are sparsely pubescent, especially along their edges. Both the stamens and the stigma do not protrude from the crown. Two carpels are fused into an ovary.

Fruit and seeds

The crescent-shaped capsule fruit is unilocular, opens forth from the top and contains many seeds. The seeds have a white, frothy seed coat, which stores water like a sponge.

Synecology

Unlike alpine lice herb species, which have adapted to bumblebees as pollinators, Pedicularis dasyantha is probably dependent on other insects such as flies as pollinators because of its habitat.

Occurrence

The distribution area of Pedicularis dasyantha is the arctic tundra. It comes both in Svalbard and on Novaya Zemlya before up to the western Taimyr peninsula.

Pedicularis dasyantha grows mostly in moderately to densely vegetated heaths, hillsides and terraces, which are often covered by White Mountain Avens and four- edged scales Heath. As a semi- parasitic Pedicularis dasyantha survived difficult in sparsely vegetated habitats.