Flower profile
Woolly lousewort
Pedicularis lanata
Woolly lousewort (Pedicularis lanata) is a flowering plant in the Orobanchaceae family.
Woolly lousewort is a wildflower.
*iNaturalist research-grade observations, as of October 17, 2026.
On our lists for: Alaska
Quick look
Pedicularis lanata is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. It is native to Canada and Alaska. Its common names include woolly lousewort and bumble-bee flower.
- It belongs to the Orobanchaceae family. iNaturalist
- USDA PLANTS describes it as an herb (forb) with a perennial life cycle. USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe lists it as native to Alaska. NatureServe
- iNaturalist has 449 research-grade sightings of it in Alaska, ranking #98 among the 121 flowers on our Alaska list. iNaturalist
When does it bloom?
Conservation status
- Federal (U.S. ESA)
- Not listed No U.S. Endangered Species Act listing in the USFWS ECOS database. USFWS ECOS
- NatureServe global
- G5 Secure worldwide. NatureServe
- Alaska
- No list Alaska has no state law listing endangered or threatened plants, so we show NatureServe's Alaska ranks instead. NatureServe: SNR, not yet ranked in Alaska.
- Rare elsewhere
- No other U.S. state ranks it S1, S2, SH or SX.
Checked October 17, 2026. Rankings and lists can change, so follow the links for the latest.
Can you eat it?
None of the sources we checked (NC State Extension (no page for this plant), USDA PLANTS) say whether it's edible or poisonous for people.
It isn't on the ASPCA plant list.
🌿 Never eat a wild plant unless you're certain of its ID; this isn't medical advice. Worried about a person? Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Worried about a pet? Call your vet.
Where does it grow?
USDA PLANTS records woolly lousewort in 1 states.
recorded by USDA PLANTS on our state lists not recorded
See the full list of states
Alaska.
Alaska counties with USDA records: Aleutians East, Aleutians West, Anchorage, Bethel, Chugach, Copper River, Denali, Dillingham, Fairbanks North Star, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Lake and Peninsula, Matanuska-Susitna, Nome, North Slope, Northwest Arctic, Southeast Fairbanks, Yukon-Koyukuk.
Names, range and relatives
Native status by region (USDA PLANTS): Alaska: Native; Canada: Native; Greenland: Native.
Other scientific names (synonyms in USDA PLANTS): Pedicularis kanei, Pedicularis willdenowii.
County records: USDA PLANTS lists it in 18 counties across 1 states; the most are in Alaska (18).
Other Pedicularis on Bloomipedia (8): Canadian lousewort, Warrior's plume, Elephant's-Head lousewort, Sickletop lousewort, Bracted lousewort, Dwarf lousewort, Whorled lousewort, Labrador lousewort.
More from the Orobanchaceae family (24 on Bloomipedia; most observed first): Texas paintbrush, Purple owl's-clover, Felt paintbrush, Giant red paintbrush, Narrowleaf cow wheat, Desert paintbrush, Wholeleaf paintbrush, Florida bluehearts.
More Alaska flowers
Sources
- USDA, NRCS. PLANTS Database, profile PELA14.
- iNaturalist, Pedicularis lanata: taxonomy, research-grade observation counts and “Flowering” annotations, retrieved October 17, 2026.
- Wikipedia, Pedicularis lanata (lead quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Alaska: Alaska prohibited and restricted noxious weeds (11 AAC 34.020).
- USFWS, ECOS species database (ESA listing check), October 17, 2026.
- NatureServe Explorer, Pedicularis lanata (global and state ranks).
- Edibility and toxicity: no source found (marked "not well documented").
- Photo: Nigel Voaden via iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0 · resized.