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Photo is of parent taxon

serpentine bird's beak

slender bird's-beak, sticky birdbeak

Stems

glabrous proximally, glandular-puberulent distally.

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

Leaves

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

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

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

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

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 10–20 mm, margins entire or toothed.

Flowers

corolla 12–16 mm.

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

narrowly ovoid, 5–10 mm.

Seeds

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

Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. brunneus

Cordylanthus tenuis

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]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

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. 677. FNA vol. 17, p. 676.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus > Cordylanthus tenuis Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus
Sibling taxa
C. tenuis subsp. barbatus, C. tenuis subsp. pallescens, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis, C. tenuis subsp. viscidus
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. tenuis subsp. barbatus, C. tenuis subsp. brunneus, 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 Adenostegia tenuis
Name authority (Jepson) Munz: Aliso 4: 98. (1958) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 383. (1868)
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