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Heller's bird's beak, King's bird's-beak

slender bird's-beak, sticky birdbeak

Stems

erect, 10–80 cm, puberulent, pubescent, or densely villous.

erect to ascending, 20–80(–120) cm, glabrous or sparsely glandular-puberulent, puberulent, and/or pilose.

Leaves

glandular-pubescent;

proximal 10–40 mm, margins 3–5-lobed, lobes linear to filiform, 1–3 mm wide;

distal 10–25 × 1 mm, margins entire.

puberulent, often pilose, or glabrous;

proximal 20–60 mm, margins entire or 3-lobed, lobes 0.5–1 mm wide;

distal 10–40 × 0.3–2 mm, margins entire.

Inflorescences

capitate spikes, 2–12-flowered, or flowers solitary;

bracts 1–6, 10–40 mm, margins 3-lobed, lobes purple distally, narrowly lanceolate, linear, or filiform.

spikes, 2–7-flowered, or flowers solitary;

bracts 1–4, 5–20 mm, margins entire or 3-lobed, lobes green or purple distally, narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, apex rounded.

Pedicels

bracteoles 10–40 mm, margins pinnately lobed.

bracteoles 10–20 mm, margins entire or toothed.

Flowers

calyx 15–30(–40) mm, tube 1–2.5 mm, apex 2-fid, cleft 2–3 mm;

corolla lavender-pink to purple-red or yellow with purple veins and markings, 15–25(–30) mm, throat 5–7 mm diam., abaxial lip 5–10 mm, ca. equal to and appressed to adaxial;

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

calyx 10–20 mm, tube 0 mm, apex 2-fid, cleft 1 mm;

corolla pale yellow, marked with purple along veins and galea, 10–20 mm, throat 6–8 mm diam., abaxial lip 4–6 mm, ca. equal to and appressed to adaxial;

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

Capsules

oblong-lanceoloid, 6–12 mm.

narrowly ovoid, 5–10 mm.

Seeds

15–20, light brown, ovoid to reniform, 2–2.5 mm, reticulate and papillate.

6–16, dark brown, ovoid to rhomboid, 1.5–2.5 mm, striate.

Cordylanthus kingii

Cordylanthus tenuis

Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).

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

Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Bracts 3–6, lobes narrowly lanceolate to linear.
subsp. helleri
1. Bracts 1–3, lobes linear to filiform.
→ 2
2. Corollas 15–25 mm; stems puberulent to pubescent; spikes 20–40 mm, 3–5(–8)-flowered.
subsp. kingii
2. Corollas 25–30 mm; stems densely villous; spikes 40–50 mm, 8–12-flowered.
subsp. densiflorus
1. Leaf lobes filiform; stems glabrous proximally.
subsp. brunneus
1. Leaves or leaf lobes linear to linear-lanceolate; stems puberulent, glandular-puberulent, glandular-pubescent, and/or pilose proximally.
→ 2
2. Bracts densely hirsute.
subsp. barbatus
2. Bracts hirsute or pilose.
→ 3
3. Bracts entire.
subsp. tenuis
3. Bracts 3-lobed, sometimes entire.
→ 4
4. Leaves yellow-green; inflorescences 4–6-flowered.
subsp. pallescens
4. Leaves green to gray-green; inflorescences 1–3-flowered.
subsp. viscidus
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 672. FNA vol. 17, p. 676.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus
Sibling taxa
C. capitatus, C. eremicus, 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. ramosus, C. rigidus, C. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
C. kingii subsp. densiflorus, C. kingii subsp. helleri, C. kingii subsp. kingii
C. tenuis subsp. barbatus, C. tenuis subsp. brunneus, C. tenuis subsp. pallescens, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis, C. tenuis subsp. viscidus
Synonyms Adenostegia tenuis
Name authority S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 233, 460, plate 22, figs. 3–6. (1871) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 383. (1868)
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