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slender bird's-beak, sticky birdbeak

Photo is of parent taxon

pale bird's-beak, pallid bird's beak

Stems

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

sparsely puberulent and/or glandular-puberulent and, often, pilose.

Leaves

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.

yellow-green, entire or 3-lobed, lobes linear to linear-lanceolate.

Inflorescences

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.

4–6-flowered;

bracts yellow-green, 3-lobed or entire, sparsely pilose with long hairs.

Pedicels

bracteoles 10–20 mm, margins entire or toothed.

Flowers

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.

corolla 10–15 mm.

Capsules

narrowly ovoid, 5–10 mm.

Seeds

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

2n

= 28.

Cordylanthus tenuis

Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. pallescens

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat Open volcanic alluvium.
Elevation 900–1200 m. (3000–3900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).

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

Subspecies pallescens grows in Siskiyou County near Black Butte and the town of Weed (B. L. Wilson et al. 2014). It is similar to subsp. viscidus, differing in its yellow-green color and inflorescences with four to six pale flowers.

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

Key
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. 676. FNA vol. 17, p. 677.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus > Cordylanthus tenuis
Sibling taxa
C. capitatus, C. eremicus, C. kingii, C. laxiflorus, C. nevinii, C. nidularius, C. parviflorus, C. pilosus, C. pringlei, C. ramosus, C. rigidus, C. wrightii
C. tenuis subsp. barbatus, C. tenuis subsp. brunneus, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis, C. tenuis subsp. viscidus
Subordinate taxa
C. tenuis subsp. barbatus, C. tenuis subsp. brunneus, C. tenuis subsp. pallescens, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis, C. tenuis subsp. viscidus
Synonyms Adenostegia tenuis C. pallescens
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 383. (1868) (Pennell) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 10: 55. (1986)
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