General:
Perennial herb from thickened, spindle-shaped roots; stems usually single, erect, 5-25 cm tall, unbranched, nearly smooth to soft-hairy or long-woolly, especially in the inflorescence.

Leaves:
Basal leaves long-stalked, oblong to lanceolate, 3-10 cm long, pinnately lobed to deeply cleft, the lobes toothed; stem leaves alternate, few, stalked, reduced.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, bracted, terminal spike of several to many flowers, the spike compact to elongated, the bracts hairy, similar to the leaves but merely toothed and reduced upward; corollas yellow sometimes with purplish markings, 15-25 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip 5-9 mm long, somewhat arched, hood-like, beakless and lacking teeth, often purplish at the tip, the lower lip 3-lobed; calyces 7-11 mm long, hairy, 5-toothed, the teeth triangular, 2-3 mm long, sometimes few-toothed near the tip; stamens 4, the filaments long-hairy.

Fruits:
Capsules, lance-oblong, 11-16 mm long; seeds several.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Pedicularis versicolor Wahlenb.