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Wright's bird's beak

Wright's bird's beak

Stems

puberulent to sparsely puberulent and/or glandular-puberulent.

erect or ascending, 20–90 cm, puberulent and glandular-puberulent or scabrous, often glabrate.

Leaves

3–5-lobed.

puberulent or glandular-puberulent, often glabrescent;

proximal 20–35 mm, margins 3–7 lobed, lobes 0.5–1.5 mm wide;

distal 10–20 mm, margins entire or 3-lobed.

Inflorescences

capitate spikes, 2–12-flowered, 20–40 mm;

bracts 2–10, green or purple distally, 15–30 mm, margins (4 or)5–9-lobed, lobes linear.

Spikes

2–4-flowered, 20–30 mm;

bracts 2 or 3.

Pedicels

bracteoles 15–30 mm, margins toothed distally.

bracteoles 15–30 mm, margins toothed or lobed.

Flowers

corolla bright yellow or lavender-pink with purple markings, 20–25 mm.

calyx lanceolate, 20–25 mm, tube 3–4 mm, apex 2-fid, cleft 1–2 mm;

corolla bright or pale yellow or lavender-pink with purple markings, 20–30 mm, throat 6–8 mm diam., abaxial lip 5–8 mm, ca. equal to and appressed to adaxial;

stamens 4, filaments hairy, fertile pollen sacs 2 per filament, equal.

Capsules

oblong, 10–15 mm.

Seeds

15–20, brown, oblong-ovoid, 2–2.5 mm, reticulate.

2n

= 26.

Cordylanthus wrightii subsp. wrightii

Cordylanthus wrightii

Phenology Flowering Jul–Sep.
Habitat Dry openings, pinyon-juniper woodlands, sagebrush scrub.
Elevation 1600–2200 m. (5200–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The inflorescence bracts of subsp. wrightii are three- to nine-lobed; northern populations tend to have three-lobed bracts; southerly populations have bracts with five to nine lobes.

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

Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Spikes 2–4-flowered; bracts 2 or 3.
subsp. wrightii
1. Spikes 5–12-flowered; bracts 4–10.
→ 2
2. Bracteole margins pinnately lobed; stems puberulent and glandular-puberulent to glabrate.
subsp. kaibabensis
2. Bracteole margins toothed distally; stems scabrous.
subsp. tenuifolius
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 678. FNA vol. 17, p. 678.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus > Cordylanthus wrightii Orobanchaceae > Cordylanthus
Sibling taxa
C. wrightii subsp. kaibabensis, C. wrightii subsp. tenuifolius
C. capitatus, C. eremicus, C. kingii, C. laxiflorus, C. nevinii, C. nidularius, C. parviflorus, C. pilosus, C. pringlei, C. ramosus, C. rigidus, C. tenuis
Subordinate taxa
C. wrightii subsp. kaibabensis, C. wrightii subsp. tenuifolius, C. wrightii subsp. wrightii
Synonyms C. wrightii var. pauciflorus Adenostegia wrightii
Name authority unknown A. Gray: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 120. (1859)
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