General:
Perennial herb from a stout branched rhizome; stems 1 to several, clustered, erect, 5-50 cm tall, unbranched, often purplish, nearly smooth to somewhat long-hairy, long-woolly in the inflorescence.

Leaves:
Leaves all or mostly basal, stalked, lanceolate, 4-7 cm long, pinnately lobed to deeply cleft, the lobes toothed or cleft and the ultimate divisions again toothed, the leaf axis broad; stem leaves 0 to 2 or 3, alternate, reduced.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a terminal spike of several to many flowers, the spike compact at first then elongating, subtended by 1 or 2 bracts similar to the leaves but much smaller, the flowers spirally arranged; corollas pink to purple or two-toned, 15-25 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip often darker, somewhat arched, hood-like, 6-13 mm long, beakless but with a pair of slender teeth near the tip, the lower lip often spotted, 3-lobed, shorter than the upper lip; calyces 8-12 mm long, white-woolly to smooth, 5-toothed, the teeth lanceolate, 3-5 mm long; stamens 4, the filaments smooth.

Fruits:
Capsules, oblong, abruptly short-beaked, 9-14 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 sudetica var. gymnocephala Trautv.