#lousewort

[adventurealldays]

[faguscarolinensis]

Betonica x 'Summer Crush' / 'Summer Crush' Hybrid Betony at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[dansnaturepictures]

View and young Avocet at Lymington and lousewort at Pig Bush in the New Forest today 11/05/2025

Nightjar heard, Cuckoo seen and heard well, Common Heath moth, Large Red Damselfly and yellow pimpernel were other highlights. A fantastic and memorable weekend out in nature.

[mountrainiernps]

NPS Photo of elephant's head lousewort, July 2025.

“Elephant’s head”, “bird’s beak”, “coiled beak” and “sickletop” all describe the flower appearance as well as the species name of various louseworts. Elephant’s head flowers have a distinctive top petal that curves down and out like the trunk of an elephant while the side petals look like elephant ears. Likewise, bird’s beak louseworts have flowers with bent tube-shaped petals like- you guessed it! - a bird’s beak.

What other interesting wildflowers have you found in the park?

NPS photos of bird's beak (left) and sickletop (right) louseworts, July 2025.

Please stay on trails! There are plenty of opportunities for that perfect mountain + flower shot from the trails without needing to trample delicate wildflowers.

NPS Photo of coiled beak lousewort, July 2025.

For updates on what’s blooming where visit https://go.nps.gov/RainierWildflower

Unfamiliar with Mount Rainier’s wildflower species? Check out the wildflower guide at https://go.nps.gov/RainierWildflowerGuide

[graveyardrabbit]

[spidermilkshake]

Lousewort and Sneezewort

A pair of rat horde soldiers who very much give the vibe of "clueless conscript possibly just barely of adult age, and we really don't know/aren't really into what we're doing here!"

Despite this, they're not really considered often among the "Good Vermin" lists because despite not having a permanent snarly-torture-face on and generally acting like pretty normal-dispositioned characters in their situation, they do end up following orders of their noxious Rapmark and Firstblade masters... which mind you, if they didn't, they'd be murdered so you can't really judge a rat's moral potential on that!

The last seen of them in The Long Patrol is them running off into the night, deserting the Rapscallion horde and hoping their absence will be ignored due to the upcoming battle. I secretly hope these two ended up among like-minded company and they lived out long and fulfilling lives--though given how hostile Mossflower Country is to rats, that's a tall order.

[speakingofnature]

The May-blooming Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis) attracts queen bumble bees to its pollen-laden flowers in the woodland hills of Backbone State Park. This wildflower also goes by the name Lousewort, which is a holdover from earlier times when it was incorrectly believed that it would repel lice and associated parasites from livestock.

[debunkshy]

Wood Betony aka Lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis)

Schurch-Thomson Prairie, WI, 5-27-17