Flora of North America species comparison

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Cordylanthus rigidus subsp. brevibracteatus

Cordylanthus
Photo is of parent taxon

short bract bird's beak, stiffbranch bird's beak

bird's-beak, birdbeak
Habit Herbs, annual; hemiparasitic.
Stems

puberulent and sparsely hispid.

erect or ascending, rarely decumbent, not fleshy, hairy or glabrous.
Leaves

cauline, alternate;

petiole absent;

blade not fleshy, not leathery, margins entire or 3–7-lobed.
Inflorescences

terminal, spikes or flowers solitary, often capitate;

bracts present.
Spikes

2–12-flowered;

proximal bracts 5–12 mm, shorter than flowers, midlobes green or red distally, linear-lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm wide, apex retuse to slightly rounded.

Pedicels

absent;

bracteoles absent.
Flowers

corolla 8–17 mm.

sepals 2, calyx bilaterally symmetric, spathelike, lobes triangular;

petals 5, corolla yellow, yellow-green, purple, pink, or red, strongly bilabiate, club-shaped, abaxial lobes 3, middle lobe tightly revolute, tip distinctly folded inside-out, adaxial 2, adaxial lip galeate, rounded at apex, opening downward;

stamens (2 or)4, didynamous, filaments hairy or glabrous;

staminode 0;

ovary 2-locular, placentation axile;

stigma slightly expanded at apex.
Capsules

dehiscence loculicidal.
Seeds

4–25, pale brown to dark brown, ovoid to reniform, wings absent.
x

= 6, 7.

Cordylanthus rigidus subsp. brevibracteatus

Cordylanthus
Phenology Flowering Jul–Sep.
Habitat Rocky opening in pine woodlands, pine-juniper woodlands, sagebrush scrub.
Elevation 800–2600 m. (2600–8500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
w United States; nw Mexico
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies brevibracteatus occurs on the Kern Plateau and resembles subsp. rigidus, found to the north in the Sierra Nevada. Both have flowers in compact heads; plants of subsp. brevibracteatus differ in having proximal bracts 5–12 mm.

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

Species 13 (13 in the flora).

Cordylanthus is similar to Orthocarpus but differs in having spathelike calyces deeply cut along one side and narrowly lanceolate, entire bracteoles subtending each flower. Also, the abaxial lip of Orthocarpus is spreading; it usually is appressed to the adaxial lip in Cordylanthus. The mature flowers often appear to be buds.

Cordylanthus is sometimes defined to include Dicranostegia and Chloropyron as subgenera (T. I. Chuang and L. R. Heckard 1986). D. C. Tank et al. (2009) found that those genera are a sister group of Triphysaria. The monograph by Chuang and Heckard provided the basis for most of the species delineation presented here.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stamens 2, filaments glabrous; calyx apices 2-fid, cleft 3–5 mm.
C. capitatus
1. Stamens 4, filaments hairy; calyx apices entire or 2-fid, cleft 0–3 mm.
→ 2
2. Bract margins 5–7-lobed, flabelliform; corollas 8–9 mm.
C. pringlei
2. Bract margins entire, 3-lobed, or (4 or)5–9-lobed, not flabelliform; corollas 10–30 mm.
→ 3
3. Fertile pollen sacs 1 per filament.
→ 4
4. Calyx apices 2-fid; bracts green or purple distally; abaxial corolla lips 7–10 mm, slightly spreading.
C. laxiflorus
4. Calyx apices entire; bracts white to cream distally; abaxial corolla lips 3–5 mm, appressed to adaxial.
C. nevinii
3. Fertile pollen sacs 2 per filament.
→ 5
5. Stems decumbent, 5–10(–15) cm; corollas white with purple veins.
C. nidularius
5. Stems erect or ascending, 10–150 cm; corollas pale or bright yellow, yellow, yellow-green, pale pink, lavender-pink, pink, purple, purple-pink, or purple-red.
→ 6
6. Bract margins (4 or)5–9-lobed.
→ 7
7. Calyx tubes 0 mm; fertile pollen sacs unequal.
C. ramosus
7. Calyx tubes 1–4 mm; fertile pollen sacs equal.
→ 8
8. Corollas 10–20 mm, throats 4–6 mm diam.; calyx tubes 1–3 mm; capsules 7–10 mm.
C. eremicus
8. Corollas 15–30 mm, throats 6–8 mm diam.; calyx tubes 3–4 mm; capsules 10–15 mm.
C. wrightii
6. Bract margins entire or 3-lobed.
→ 9
9. Calyx tubes 5–8 mm; corolla abaxial lips shorter than and not appressed to adaxial.
C. parviflorus
9. Calyx tubes 0–2.5 mm; corolla abaxial lips ca. equal to and appressed to adaxial.
→ 10
10. Calyx apices 2-fid, clefts 2–3 mm; bracteole margins pinnately lobed.
C. kingii
10. Calyx apices entire or 2-fid, clefts 0.5–1 mm; bracteole margins entire or toothed.
→ 11
11. Calyx tubes 1–2 mm; inflorescences (2–)5–15-flowered; corollas with abaxial, U-shaped, purple markings.
C. rigidus
11. Calyx tubes 0–1 mm; inflorescences 2–7-flowered, or flowers solitary; corollas streaked and spotted with maroon or marked with purple.
→ 12
12. Stems densely puberulent and glandular-puberulent, and pilose; abaxial corolla lips 5–10 mm.
C. pilosus
12. Stems glabrous or sparsely glandular-puberulent, puberulent, and/or pilose; abaxial corolla lips 4–6 mm.
C. tenuis
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 676. FNA vol. 17, p. 669. Author: Kerry A. Barringer.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus > Cordylanthus rigidus Orobanchaceae
Sibling taxa
C. rigidus subsp. littoralis, C. rigidus subsp. rigidus, C. rigidus subsp. setigerus
Subordinate taxa
C. capitatus, C. eremicus, C. kingii, C. laxiflorus, C. nevinii, C. nidularius, C. parviflorus, C. pilosus, C. pringlei, C. ramosus, C. rigidus, C. tenuis, C. wrightii
Synonyms C. filifolius var. brevibracteatus, Adenostegia rigida var. brevibracteata, C. rigidus var. brevibracteatus Adenostegia
Name authority (A. Gray) Munz: Aliso 4: 98. (1958) Nuttall ex Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 597. (1846) — name conserved
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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