This year the bracted lousewort were very healthy. They aren't the prettiest plant for sure. Thomas Drummond and David Douglas are each given credit for being the first to collect this plant for science -- probably in 1827. Drummond found it in "Shady alpine woods of the Rocky Mountains" (as quoted in Intermountain Flora), probably in the Canadian Rockies. Douglas found it in "Northwest America". "Bracteosa" means "bearing bracts", tiny leaves typically subtending flowers. Basal leaves are often withered at flowering time.