Pedicularis canadensis - Canadian Lousewort

Sizes available: TBD

Basics: zones 4-8, 12" x 6-12", full sun to high, light shade, intriguing yellow blooms, sometimes with reddish accents in early spring, adaptable to moisture from medium wet to dry and wants good drainage in a high particulate soil: think sand, silt, loam.

Common names: Canadian Lousewort, Wood Betony, Forest Lousewort

Family: Orbanchaceae

Origin/Distribution: Occurs in 40 states as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas and Minnesota. Native to Maine.

Habitat: Found in both dry and riparian woodlands that are open-canopied, upland prairie, and thickets.

More: Hemiparasitic. The roots and leaves have been used medicinally. The roots have also been grated and added clandestinely to food as an aphrodisiac, both to heal a rift and as an aid to seduction. I think this plant may have the potential to knock back meadow grasses if one is attempting to make a meadow "garden" versus simply not mowing and hoping for the best. Yellow Rattle, Rinanthus minor, is used for this purpose in the UK (looking at you Gardener's World, iykyk) but is not native to North America. Enter the possibility of Pedicularis canadensis. The goal with using hemiparasitic plants in a meadow garden is to thwart some of the strongest growers to the benefit of a more biodiverse whole. And in particular, for humans, this means more showy flowering plants, what is also called "floristic quality". More information coming soon. 

Source: sown at Honey Petal Plants with seed from Prairie Moon Nursery or grown on from landscape plugs from Blazing Star Gardens

Image credits: Close up of flower by Masson Brock through Creative Commons via the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox; botanical illustration from Wikimedia Commons. This illustration is part of Alice Lonsberry's A Guide to the Wildflowers, and was drawn by Mrs. Ellis Rowan.