PEDICULARIS CANADENSIS. 



COMMON WOOD-BETONY. 



NATURAL ORDER, SCROPHULARIACETE. 



Pedicularis Canadensis, Linnaeus. — Hairy, stems clustered, oblique ; leaves lance oblong, 

 pinnatifid; calyx obliquely truncate; upper lip of the corolla with two setaceous teeth 

 at the apex. (Darlington's Flora Cestrica. See also Gray's Manual of Botany of the 

 Northern States, and Chapman's Flora of the Southern States.) 



EDICULARIS is a large genus, over a hundred species 

 which belong to it having been described. Its members 

 are most numerous in the Arctic regions, or at high elevations 

 in mountain districts. Quite a number are found in the Rocky 

 Mountains, and some species grow in the high regions of Mex- 

 ico. In the Atlantic States we have but two, one of these being 

 P. Canadensis, now figured. This has a wide range for a plant 

 whose family relations are so far to the north, as it is found in 

 almost every State, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and ex- 

 tends west to the Rocky Mountains. In our country, however, 

 our species seeks shade from the warm suns by taking to open 

 woods, or getting on rising knolls in swamps or low grounds, 

 where it may have the advantage of a humid atmosphere. It 

 flowers very early in spring, being generally out of bloom and 

 having its fruit ripened before the first of June. 



The flowers are amongst the handsomest of our native plants, 

 and the fern-like leaves set off to great advantage the floral 

 beauty. An unusual feature is the great variety in the colors, 

 at least in the specimens generally found in Pennsylvania. The 

 upper portion of the corolla ranges from a light brown to a rich 

 purple, while the lower portions are of a pure white, varying to 

 a light yellow. These natural tendencies to change offer great 

 inducements to the florist to attempt improvements. At any 



