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Pedicularis canadensis

Common name:	Common Lousewort	Family:	Scrophulariaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	43, 200, 235
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The plant is said to be poisonous to sheep[274].
Range:	Eastern N. America - Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south to northern Mexico and east to Florida.
Habitat:	Dry woods, thickets and clearings[43, 235].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Betony, Wood [S], Canadian Lousewort [P,B], Common Lousewort [L], Lousewort [E], Wood Betony [H,S,L], Wood Betony, American Lousewort [S],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	canadensis = northeastern America cana = grayed due to hairs
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Scrophulariales. Figwort family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us(Meskwaki)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.4m. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves - cooked[105, 161, 177, 257].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antitumor Aphrodisiac Blood tonic Cardiac Poultice Stomachic.

The roots are blood tonic, cardiac and stomachic[257]. A tea is used in the treatment of stomach aches, ulcers, diarrhoea, anaemia and heart troubles[222, 257]. A poultice of the root is applied to swellings, sore muscles and tumours[218, 257].
The finely grated roots were secretly added to food as an alleged aphrodisiac[222].
An infusion of the leaves has been used to procure an abortion[257]. An infusion of the fresh or dried leaves has been used to treat a sore throat[257].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A semi-parasitic plant, growing on grass roots. Rather difficult to establish in cultivation, it is best grown in conditions that approximate to its native habitat[200]. It requires a moist peaty soil and the presence of host grasses[1]. The plant is said to parasitize at least 80 different species in 35 different genera[274]. Requires a partially shaded to sunny site in a well-drained gritty but moist soil[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow in pots of turf collected from the proximity of wild colonies or sow directly onto the sites where the plants are to remain[200].
Division of established plants might be possible in the spring. Establish the divisions near the parent plants[200]

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] SW USA Dist. Maps from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Scrophulariaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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