SCROPHULARIACEÆ
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.=
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains · The Wunder Library — complete classics, free to read, with narration.