EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Horrible Names for a Lovely Plant

Dwarf Lousewort (Pedicularis centranthera), Family Scrophulariaceae or Orobanchaceae
Hoxworth Springs, Coconino National Forest, Arizona

Explanation:   Who in heck thinks up these names?  This lovely little plant thriving in the cold, snowy, dormant early spring soils of northern Arizona is known as a lousewort.  (It is neither a louse nor a wort.)  Worse than that, it is the dwarf lousewort.  It is also a root parasite.  And some sources cite it belonging to the family Orobanchaceae, the broomrape family (I won't touch that one).   

Actually, according to some sources, the name lousewort originated from a belief that they caused lice infections in livestock when eaten (other sources suggest that the seeds were used to destroy lice).  This belief is mirrored even by the scientific genus name for this plant, Pedicularis; the scientific genus name of the common louse -- the insect that includes head lice and body lice, yuk -- is Pediculus.  Pedicularis -- the plant name -- means "of lice."

Dwarf lousewort partially covered by spring snow & ground ice.
 

So this is a terrible plant to be avoided, yes?  Well ... consider that some sources suggest that it is used as a tranquilizer, relaxant and sedative, and even a strong aphrodisiac.  It may have been smoked as a narcotic.  Lice never had it this good.  

As as root parasite, louseworts at least partially derive nutrients from the living roots of other plants.  
  

Break out your red-blue anaglyph 3-D glasses.

Here is dwarf lousewort thriving in a
snowy Ponderosa pine forest
of northern Arizona.

(Click on photo for larger
and clearer image.)