The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links
Photo is of parent taxon

serpentine bird's beak

Stems

glabrous proximally, glandular-puberulent distally.

Leaves

green, sometimes tinged purple, entire or 3-lobed, lobes filiform.

Inflorescences

1- or 2-flowered, flowers in loose clusters;

bracts green to purple, entire or 3-lobed, puberulent, often glabrous distally, without long hairs.

Flowers

corolla 12–16 mm.

Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. brunneus

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Serpentine in mixed evergreen forests and chaparral.
Elevation 200–1400 m. (700–4600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies brunneus is a serpentine endemic with glabrous or slightly puberulent stems and leaves with filiform lobes. T. I. Chuang and L. R. Heckard (1986) recognized subsp. capillaris as a distinct subspecies, closely related to subsp. brunneus but distinguished by glabrous stems and three-lobed proximal bracts. These characteristics are not reliable, varying even on a single plant. When combined, the two form a coherent subspecies distinguished by filiform leaf lobes, tendency to grow on serpentine, and distribution.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 677.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus > Cordylanthus tenuis
Sibling taxa
C. tenuis subsp. barbatus, C. tenuis subsp. pallescens, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis, C. tenuis subsp. viscidus
Synonyms C. pilosus var. brunneus, C. brunneus, C. capillaris, C. tenuis subsp. capillaris
Name authority (Jepson) Munz: Aliso 4: 98. (1958)
Web links