_Figwort Family_
Herbs with alternate or opposite leaves without stipules and mostly
perfect, complete and irregular flowers; calyx 4—5-toothed, -cleft, or
-divided; corolla 2-lipped or nearly regular and stamens 2, 4, or 5,
nearly equal.
Stamens 5, the fifth sterile or rudimentary.
Sterile stamen represented by a gland on the upper
side of the corolla tube. =Collinsia.=
Sterile stamen nearly as long as the rest. =Pentstemon.=
Stamens 2, leaves opposite or whorled. =Veronica.=
Stamens 4.
Stamens not enclosed in the upper lip. =Mimulus.=
Stamens enclosed in the upper lip.
Anther cells unequal.
Upper lip of the corolla much longer than the lower.
=Castilleja.=
Upper lip of the corolla scarcely longer and
much narrower than the inflated lower one.
=Orthocarpus.=
Anther cells equal and parallel.
Galea not prolonged into a beak; throat without teeth.
=Pedicularis.=
Galea prolonged into a very slender, recurved beak;
throat with a tooth on each side. =Elephantella.=
[Illustration: Collinsia parviflora Dougl. (⅔ Nat.) Small-Flowered
Collinsia.]
[Illustration: Elephantella grœnlandica (Retz.) Rydb. (⅓ Nat.)
Long-Beaked Elephantella.]
[Sidenote: =Collinsia parviflora= Dougl. _Small-flowered Collinsia._]
Stems slightly hairy at length, diffusely branched, very slender, 3—15
inches long. Leaves oblong or lanceolate, mostly obtuse at the apex,
narrowed at the base, ½—1 inch long, entire or sparingly toothed, the
lower opposite, petioled; the floral sessile, opposite or verticillate.
Flowers few, in whorls in the axils of the leaves, on long slender
pedicels; corolla blue or whitish, the throat longer than the limb; the
upper lip erect, 2-cleft, the lower lip 3-lobed, spreading.
An inconspicuous little plant on rocks and in damp places throughout
the region; flowering during June and July.
[Sidenote: =Pentstemon fruticosus= (Pursh.) Greene. _Large Purple
Beard-tongue._]
Decumbent, diffusely spreading, 6—12 inches high, woody at the base.
Leaves ovate, obovate or oblong, ½ an inch or more long, serrulate
or entire, smooth or hairy when young. Flowers in glandular-hairy
terminal racemes; corolla violet, blue or pinkish purple, an inch or
more long, tubular funnel-form, 2-lipped, the upper deeply 2-, the
lower 3-cleft.
Throughout the region in exposed stony places and on slides up to an
elevation of 10,000 feet, frequently growing in patches of considerable
size; flowering in June and early July.
[Sidenote: =Pentstemon confertus= Dougl. _Yellow Beard-tongue._]
Smooth throughout or the inflorescence and calyx sometimes with viscid
hairs; stem a foot or two high. Leaves from oblong or oblong-lanceolate
to somewhat linear, usually quite entire. Flowers in a terminal head of
2—5 dense, many-flowered clusters; corolla with a narrow tube about ½
an inch long, pale yellow; the lower lip conspicuously bearded within.
In moist or dry open ground throughout the Rockies, especially abundant
in the valleys of the Bow and Pipestone in the region about Laggan;
flowering during late June and early July.
[Illustration: Pentstemon confertus Dougl. (⅓ Nat.) Yellow
Beard-Tongue.]
[Illustration: Pentstemon pseudohumilis Rydb. (½ Nat.)]
[Sidenote: =Pentstemon procerus= Dougl. _Blue Beard-tongue._]
Smooth throughout, stems slender, 2—12 inches high. Leaves lanceolate,
1—2 inches long, those of the middle of the stem largest, usually
entire. Flowers in dense verticillate clusters, in a more or less
elongated head; corolla bright blue with a slender funnel-form tube ½
an inch or more long; the lower lip bearded within.
In open dry or moist ground throughout the Rockies, not common; most
abundant in the valley of the Kicking Horse River at Field; flowering
in June.
[Sidenote: =Pentstemon pseudohumilis= Rydb.]
Smooth; stem 8—12 inches high, simple. Basal leaves broadly spatulate
or elliptic, thin, firm, obtuse, or acute, contracted into a slightly
winged petiole, with entire margins; stem leaves oblanceolate, oblong
or lanceolate, mostly all opposite. Flowers blue or bluish-purple in
a loose panicle, with more or less glandular-hairy branches; calyx
glandular-hairy, ¼ of an inch long, deeply cleft into lanceolate lobes;
corolla slightly hairy, about ¾ of an inch long, funnel-form, slightly
oblique.
In open ground and slopes in the Selkirks; flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Veronica americana= Schwein. _American Brooklime._]
Smooth throughout; stems decumbent, rooting at the lower nodes, 6
inches to 2 feet long. Leaves oblong, ovate, or oblong-lanceolate, all
distinctly petioled, sharply serrate with a wedge-shaped or rounded
base, obtuse or acute at the apex, 1—3 inches long, ¼—1 inch broad.
Flowers in racemes on slender peduncles in the axils of the leaves;
corolla blue or nearly white, striped with purple, nearly ¼ of an inch
broad, rotate, with 4 unequal lobes.
In brooks and swampy places in the Selkirks, especially around Glacier;
flowering throughout the summer.
[Sidenote: =Veronica Wormskjoldii= R. and S. _Alpine Speedwell._]
Hairy throughout with brown glandular hairs; stems ascending or erect,
slender, usually simple, 2—12 inches high. Leaves oblong, ovate or
elliptic, sessile, mostly rounded at both ends, crenulate or entire,
½—1 inch long. Flowers light blue, in a short, narrow raceme; corolla,
⅛ of an inch broad, rotate, lobes nearly equal and rounded.
Throughout the region in open woods, and in alpine meadows and slopes
up to 7000 feet elevation; flowering during June and July.
[Sidenote: =Veronica serphyllifolia= L. _Thyme-leaved Speedwell._]
Slightly hairy or smooth; stems slender, decumbent, the branches
ascending or erect, 2—10 inches high. Leaves all opposite and petioled
or the uppermost sessile, oblong, oval or ovate, ¼—½ an inch long,
crenulate, entire. Flowers in short spicate racemes at the ends of the
stems and branches; corolla pale blue or sometimes white, with darker
stripes, nearly ¼ of an inch broad.
In open grassy ground at the lower altitudes throughout the Selkirks,
very abundant and striking in the lawn at Glacier House; flowering
during June.
[Sidenote: =Mimulus Lewisii= Pursh. _Red Monkey-flower._]
Stems viscid-hairy, 2—4 feet high. Leaves from oblong-ovate to
lanceolate, acuminate, denticulate, opposite, 2—4 inches long and ½ as
broad. Flowers on peduncles longer than the leaves; calyx campanulate,
¾ of an inch long, with triangular acute teeth; corolla rose-red
or paler, the tube twice as long as the calyx, throat open, limb
two-lipped; lobes of the upper lip erect or turned backward, obcordate,
the lower lip spreading, the lobes obovate.
In wet ground and along streams through the Selkirks, frequently
growing in such abundance as to practically exclude all other
vegetation; the large showy, rose-purple flowers, each with two bright
yellow patches in the throat.
[Sidenote: =Mimulus cæspitosus= Greene. _Yellow Monkey-flower._]
Smooth, stems flattened, decumbent and rooting at the nodes, the
branches rising 3—6 inches high. Leaves orbicular or ovate, ½—1 inch
long, dentate or denticulate, usually sublyrate, purple beneath.
Flowers axillary on long peduncles; calyx campanulate, ⅓ of an inch
long, mottled with dark purple; corolla bright yellow, ¾—1 inch long,
throat spotted with dark red, lobes of the upper lip erect, ⅓—½ an inch
long, the middle lobe of the lower lip broadly cordate, pendulous.
In wet, gravelly soil around springs and in the beds and banks of
alpine brooks, through the Selkirks, often forming large patches;
flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Mimulus moschatus= Dougl. _Musk Plant._]
Hairy with soft and glandular hairs, musk scented; stems creeping
or ascending, branched, slender, 6—12 inches long. Leaves ovate or
oblong, short petioled, acute or obtuse at the apex, denticulate,
rounded or subcordate at the base, 1—2 inches long, half as broad.
Flowers ¾ of an inch long on axillary peduncles, shorter than the
leaves; corolla funnel-shaped with a spreading limb nearly ½ an inch
broad, bright yellow.
In wet shaded ground at the lower altitudes, throughout the Selkirks;
flowering during June and July.
[Sidenote: =Castilleja purpurascens= Greenm. _Painter’s Brush._]
Perennial more or less purplish throughout, stems erect or nearly
so, 4—12 inches high, usually, several from the same root, smooth or
somewhat hairy below, soft-hairy above. Leaves sessile, clasping,
linear or narrowly lanceolate, ¾—2 inches long, usually attenuate and
acute, entire and undivided or occasionally 3-cleft near the apex,
smooth or the uppermost soft-hairy, 3-nerved. Inflorescence in a close
terminal raceme, later elongated, about 3 inches long, close-hairy;
bracts ovate-lanceolate or oblong-ovate, 1—1¼ inches long, usually
entire or occasionally cleft, from deep purple-red to scarlet and
rarely yellow to tinged with red or pink; calyx ¾—1 inch long, ranging
in color with the bracts; corolla 1—1½ inches long, galea green or
greenish-yellow with scarlet margins and exserted beyond the calyx and
floral bracts.
Frequent in the lower altitudes through the Rockies; very abundant
and striking on the flood-plain of the Kicking Horse River at Field;
flowering during June.
[Sidenote: =Castilleja pallida= Kunth. _White Indian Paint-brush._]
Commonly hairy with weak cobwebby hairs, a foot or less high. Leaves
linear to lanceolate or the upper ovate-lanceolate. Flowers in
dense leafy-bracted spikes; bracts oval or obovate, partly white or
yellowish, cobwebby-hairy, equalling the corolla; calyx 2-cleft, the
lobes oblong or lanceolate, corolla ½—1 inch long; galea not exceeding
the calyx.
In moist open grounds at the higher altitudes throughout the Rockies;
flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Castilleja miniata= Dougl. _Bright Painted Cup._]
A foot or two high, mostly simple and strict, smooth or nearly so.
Leaves lanceolate or linear or the upper ovate-lanceolate acute, entire
or rarely 3-cleft. Flowers in a dense, short, hairy spike; bracts from
lanceolate to oval, mostly bright red or crimson, occasionally pinkish,
rarely whitish, seldom lobed; calyx lobes lanceolate, acutely 2-cleft;
corolla over an inch long; galea exserted, linear, longer than the tube.
In moist alpine meadows throughout the Rockies; flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Castilleja lanceifolia= Rydb. _Scarlet Painted Cup._]
Perennial with a long creeping rootstock, not growing in clumps, 1—2
feet high, sparingly close-hairy or nearly smooth, very leafy. Leaves
lanceolate; often acuminate, 1½—2½ inches long, rather firm, 3-veined,
the upper seldom if ever cleft. Flowers in a compact terminal head;
bracts bright scarlet, oblong, obtuse; calyx 1 inch long, crimson or
scarlet with a green base about equally cleft; corolla yellowish-green,
½ an inch longer than the calyx.
In moist open woods throughout the Rockies at the lower altitudes on
the eastern slope; flowering in June and July.
[Sidenote: =Orthocarpus luteus= Nutt. _Yellow Orthocarpus._]
Annual, rough-hairy; stems stout, erect, branched above or simple,
6—18 inches high, densely leafy. Leaves erect or ascending, linear or
lanceolate, entire or sometimes 3-cleft, 1—1½ inches long, sessile,
long acuminate; bracts of the dense spike lanceolate, broader and
shorter than the leaves, entire or 3-cleft, green, mostly longer than
the flowers. Flowers bright yellow, an inch long or less, the upper lip
ovate, obtuse, about as long as the sac-like 3-toothed lower one.
In open ground in the lower valleys throughout the region as far
west as the valley of the Columbia River at Beavermouth; flowering
throughout the summer.
[Sidenote: =Elephantella grœnlandica= (Retz.) Rydb. _Long-beaked
Elephantella._]
Whole plant usually purple, smooth; stem simple, erect, 1—1½ feet
high. Leaves alternate, lanceolate in outline, pinnately parted or the
lower pinnately divided into lanceolate, acute, crenulate, or incised
segments, the upper sessile, the lower slender-petioled 2—6 inches
long. Flowers in a very dense spike 1—6 inches long; calyx short,
acutish; corolla red or purple, the galea produced into a slender
beak ½—¾ of an inch long, which is decurved against the lower lip and
upwardly recurved beyond it; body of the corolla about ¼ of an inch
long.
In open bogs and wet alpine meadows at the higher altitudes throughout
the Rockies; flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Pedicularis racemosa= Dougl. _White Lousewort._]
Smooth throughout, simple or sometimes branching, 6—18 inches high.
Leaves lanceolate, undivided, minutely and doubly crenulate, 2—4
inches long. Flowers short-pedicelled in a short leafy raceme or
spike, or the lower remote in the axils of the leaves; corolla white,
showy, the galea which is half an inch long produced into a slender,
elongated, incurved beak nearly reaching the apex of the broad lower
lip.
At the higher altitudes in the Rockies in moist open ground and alpine
meadows, flowering in July.
[Sidenote: =Pedicularis bracteosa= Benth. _Wood Betony._]
Smooth, 1—3 feet high; leaves 3—10 inches long, all pinnately parted,
the lower divided, ample; divisions of the leaves ½—2 inches long,
linear-lanceolate. Flowers crowded in a cylindrical, leafy-bracted
spike, 2—6 inches long; corolla less than an inch long, pale yellow or
reddish, the galea much longer than the lip with a hooded summit.
Frequent throughout the Rockies in moist open woods and alpine meadows
at the higher elevations; flowering during July.