If you walk into the plateau grasslands and forest slopes of Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet in midsummer, it is not difficult to find their traces, and you will be moved by their beauty. This genus is a perennial and rare panicum miliaceum, usually semi-parasitic; Leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, entire or pinnately divided; Terminal spikes or racemes; The calyx is tubular, the corolla changes greatly, the flower charge is in the helmet petal, opposite, the connective is separated, the length is parallel, and the base is sometimes spiny; Ovary 2-loculed, with many ovules; The back of the capsule is cracked, and the seeds are various, and the seeds are reticulate, honeycomb-shaped holes or stripes.
More than 50 species of Pedicularis have been recorded as drugs, and folk medicine has a long history. It has the effects of expelling wind, removing dampness and diuresis, and is often used to treat rheumatic joint pain, urinary calculi, dysuria, leukorrhagia, wind dysentery, scabies, etc. Modern chemistry has separated alkaloids, iridoid glycosides, phenylpropanoid glycosides, flavonoids and other bioactive substances from this plant, among which iridoid glycosides and phenylpropanoid glycosides have anticoagulant, antioxidant, anti-tumor, inhibiting DNA mutation, delaying skeletal muscle fatigue and so on.
Pedicularis is a semi-parasitic herb with chlorophyll, which is parasitic through roots. They produce some parasitic organs called haustorium through their roots, which are connected with the roots of other plants and absorb nutrients and water from other plants. They are veritable "vampires" in the plant world. Because Pedicularis directly absorbs nutrients from the host plants, the plants parasitized by Pedicularis usually grow weakly, and the biomass decreases, which affects the plant yield and can reduce the yield by more than 80% in severe cases. In addition, Pedicularis will also change the competitive relationship between host plants and other plants, thus affecting the composition of plant communities and the stability of ecosystems. Pedicularis has strong adaptability to disturbed environment, and it is a common pioneer tree species in the process of vegetation restoration in high mountains and sub-high slopes. If it can be used reasonably, it will play a certain role in restoring soil fertility and accelerating the process of vegetation restoration.
Pedicularis plants have small flowers, but their various corollas are considered to be the most diverse groups of flowering plants, which also leads to the diversity and complexity of Pedicularis plants. In order to attract bumblebees to visit and improve pollination efficiency, their corollas show great variation, mainly divided into two types: "short nose" with nectar and "long nose" without nectar. The main purpose is to attract bumblebees to pollinate with nectar. Some of them have long "noses" that bend upwards, just like a playful elephant; Some lips are slightly open, like naughty urchins tasting sweet rain and dew; Some colorful skirts fly like beautiful women dancing in the wind; Some people are looking forward to it, as if eager for a girl to fall in love with her old friend …
Pedicularis is a wild flower resource with bright colors and strange corolla, which has great development potential. In the wild, Pedicularis is often scattered on the vast grassland, but sometimes it is also distributed in pieces. The red, yellow and pink Pedicularis flowers are covered with a large area of grass, just like a colorful pattern woven on a huge carpet and a rosy cloud in the sky.