# Elephant's-Head lousewort

*Pedicularis groenlandica*

The intricate flower shape is a perfect mimic of an elephant's head, where the 'trunk' actually houses the plant's style to ensure pollination by bumblebees.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Lamiales › Orobanchaceae › Pedicularis
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Alpine and subalpine wet meadows, bogs, and cold stream banks.
- **Diet:** Hemiparasitic (photosynthetic but extracts nutrients and water from the roots of nearby grasses and sedges).
- **Range:** Canada, Western United States, Greenland
- **Size:** 20 to 60 centimeters in height
- **Lifespan:** Perennial (5-10+ years)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Climate change reducing alpine snowpack, wetland drainage, and heavy livestock grazing.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. This plant is safe to approach and photograph. Avoid trampling the saturated soil nearby, as it can damage the delicate root systems of both the lousewort and its host plants.

## About

Pedicularis groenlandica is a showy flowering plant in the broomrape family which is known by the common names elephant's head and elephanthead lousewort . This erect plant can grow to a height of 80 centimetres (31 in). Its sharply-toothed fernlike leaves are located low on the stout stem. The stem is topped with a large inflorescence of bright pink to purple or white flowers. Each flower has a long, pointed beak which curves upward, superficially resembling the trunk...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/2b250d37-d9e8-40d4-bf05-807c6e2373e7
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59780
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedicularis groenlandica
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/93509616/medium.jpg (Laura Holloway, CC0, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.