Family: Orobanchaceae Vent.
Distribution: Mountains of southwestern and central Europe – the Pyrenees, Jura, Alps, Apennines.
Ecology: It grows in moist mountain grasslands, streamsides and scrub, on limestone, at elevations from 1000 to 2400 m asl. Blooms from June to August.
Description: Perennial, hemiparasitic herbs, 20–50 cm tall. Stem erect, unbranched, pubescent, leafy mainly in upper half. Leaves broadly lanceolate, 2–3-pinnatisect, up to 25 cm long, green, glabrous above, pubescent beneath. Flowers in a dense spike; bracts exceeding the flowers, lower leaf-like, the upper less divided; calyx membranous, hairy on the veins and margin; teeth triangular, entire; corolla 2–3 cm long, pale yellow; tube exceeding the calyx; limb 2-lipped, the upper lip galeate, villous, obtuse, laterally compressed, the lower 3-lobed. The fruit is a capsule.
Threat and protection: This species is protected by law in Germany.
These images were taken in Switzerland, Gelmersee (by Věra Svobodová, June 27, 2009).
