The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

desert bird's-beak

bushy bird's-beak, bushy birdbeak

Stems

erect or ascending, 10–80 cm, puberulent, glabrescent.

erect, 10–30(–90) cm, puberulent, sometimes pilose.

Leaves

puberulent, sometimes scabrous;

proximal 10–40 mm, margins 3–7-lobed, lobes 1 mm wide;

distal 5–25 × 1 mm, margins entire.

puberulent;

proximal 10–40 mm, margins 3–5-lobed, lobes 1–2 mm wide;

distal 10–15 × 0.5–1 mm, margins entire.

Inflorescences

capitate spikes, 3–14-flowered;

bracts 5–10, 5–20 mm, margins 5–7-lobed, lobes purple or yellow-green, linear to filiform.

capitate spikes, 3–7-flowered;

bracts 1–7, 10–20 mm, margins 5–7-lobed, lobes green, sometimes purple distally, filiform.

Pedicels

bracteoles 10–20 mm, margins entire.

bracteoles 10–20 mm, margins entire.

Flowers

calyx 10–20 mm, tube 1–3 mm, apex entire or 2-fid, cleft 0–0.5 mm;

corolla pink to lavender-pink, usually spotted with purple, 10–20 mm, throat 4–6 mm diam., abaxial lip pink or yellow, 3–6 mm, shorter than and appressed to adaxial;

stamens 4, filaments hairy, fertile pollen sacs 2 per filament, equal.

calyx 15–20 mm, tube 0 mm, apex entire or 2-fid, cleft 0–1 mm;

corolla pale yellow, spotted and streaked with purple, 10–20 mm, throat 4–6 mm diam., abaxial lip 3–5 mm, ca. equal to and appressed to adaxial;

stamens 4, filaments hairy distally, fertile pollen sacs 2 per filament, unequal.

Capsules

oblong-lanceoloid, 7–10 mm.

oblong-lanceoloid, 8–10 mm.

Seeds

10–15, pale brown, ovoid, 1.5–2 mm, reticulate.

10–20, light brown, narrowly ovate, 1.5–2 mm, reticulate.

2n

= 24.

Cordylanthus eremicus

Cordylanthus ramosus

Phenology Flowering late Jun–Aug.
Habitat Rocky, alkaline soils, sagebrush scrub.
Elevation 400–2900 m. (1300–9500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Cordylanthus eremicus is similar to C. wrightii, which also has relatively short, dense spikes and inflorescence bracts palmately three- to seven-lobed. Cordylanthus eremicus can be distinguished from C. wrightii by its gray to white hairs.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Bracts: lobes purple distally, apices rounded to retuse; calyx tubes 2–3 mm; filaments hairy throughout.
subsp. eremicus
1. Bracts: lobes green to yellow-green distally, apices acute; calyx tubes 1 mm; filaments hairy distally.
subsp. kernensis
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 671. FNA vol. 17, p. 675.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus
Sibling taxa
C. capitatus, C. kingii, C. laxiflorus, C. nevinii, C. nidularius, C. parviflorus, C. pilosus, C. pringlei, C. ramosus, C. rigidus, C. tenuis, C. wrightii
C. capitatus, C. eremicus, C. kingii, C. laxiflorus, C. nevinii, C. nidularius, C. parviflorus, C. pilosus, C. pringlei, C. rigidus, C. tenuis, C. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
C. eremicus subsp. eremicus, C. eremicus subsp. kernensis
Synonyms Adenostegia eremica, C. ramosus subsp. eremicus Adenostegia ciliosa, A. ramosa, C. ramosus var. puberulus, C. ramosus subsp. setosus
Name authority (Coville & C. V. Morton) Munz: Man. S. Calif. Bot., 483, 601. (1935) Nuttall ex Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 597. (1846)
Web links