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Photo is of parent taxon

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

slender bird's-beak, sticky birdbeak

Stems

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

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

Leaves

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

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

4–6-flowered;

bracts yellow-green, 3-lobed or entire, sparsely pilose with 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 10–15 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.

2n

= 28.

Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. pallescens

Cordylanthus tenuis

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

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.)

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. brunneus, 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. pallescens Adenostegia tenuis
Name authority (Pennell) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 10: 55. (1986) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 383. (1868)
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