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slender bird's-beak, sticky birdbeak

Photo is of parent taxon

slender bird's beak, sticky birdbeak, viscid bird's beak

Stems

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

densely glandular-puberulent and 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.

green to gray-green, 3-lobed, lobes linear.

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.

loosely 1–3-flowered;

bracts gray-green, 3-lobed, 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 10–18 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. viscidus

Phenology Flowering Jul–Sep.
Habitat Serpentine in pine woodlands.
Elevation 200–2000 m. (700–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).

(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. pallescens, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis
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 Adenostegia viscida, C. viscidus
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 383. (1868) (Howell) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 10: 56. (1986)
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