The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

little butter 'n' eggs, purple-beak owl's-clover

San Francisco owl's-clover

Stems

simple or with 1–4 ascending branches proximally, (3.5–)5–15(–19) cm, glabrous proximally, pubescent to glandular-pubescent distally.

simple or with 1–15 ascending branches proximally, 6–24(–30) cm, glabrous proximally, sparsely retrorsely short-strigose distally.

Leaves

pubescent to glandular-pubescent;

proximal cauline: blade filiform to linear, (4–)5–25 mm;

cauline: blade ± elliptic to obovate, 10–25 mm, base sessile, margins usually pinnatifid, lateral lobes 2–6(or 7).

glabrous or sparsely puberulent;

proximal cauline: blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 6–14 mm;

cauline: blade ± ovate, 10–56 mm, base sessile, margins pinnatifid, rarely bipinnatifid, lateral lobes 4–8.

Pedicels

0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous, rarely sparsely puberulent.

0–0.3 mm, glabrous.

Flowers

calyx 6–7 mm, pubescent to glandular-pubescent, tube (2–)3–5 mm, lobes narrowly lanceolate, 1–3 × 0.8–1.3 mm;

corolla yellow, rarely yellow and white, 10–12 mm, hairy, beak dark purple, rarely yellow, not hooked, abaxial lobes spreading, 1.5–2 mm, throat abruptly indented, forming a fold under abaxial corolla lip, adaxial lobes projecting;

stamens included, pollen sac yellow, 1–1.3 mm, glabrous, dehiscing longitudinally;

style 6–9 mm, glabrous;

stigma 2-lobed.

calyx 4–6 mm, glabrous, tube 2–4 mm, lobes triangular to narrowly lanceolate, 1.3–2 × 0.8–1 mm;

corolla creamy white, rarely pale yellow, 6–14 mm, glabrous, beak light green or white, not hooked, abaxial lobes spreading, 1.5–3 mm, throat abruptly indented, forming a fold under abaxial corolla lip, adaxial lobes projecting;

stamens exserted, pollen sac yellow, 1.3–1.5 mm, glabrous, dehiscing longitudinally;

style 5.5–6 mm, glabrous;

stigma capitate.

Capsules

3–5.5 × 3–4 mm, glabrous.

4.5–6.5 × 3–3.5 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

(30–)40–80, ovoid to ellipsoid, 0.8–1 mm.

20–35, ovoid, 0.6–1.3 mm.

Spikelike

racemes interrupted, open distally, 0.5–11 cm;

peduncle absent;

bracts pinnatifid, ± obovate, 7–13(–15) mm, lateral lobes 2–4.

racemes interrupted, dense distally, 1–5.5 cm;

peduncle absent;

bracts pinnatifid, ± ovate, 4–12 mm, lateral lobes 2–6.

2n

= 22.

= 22.

Triphysaria micrantha

Triphysaria floribunda

Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Grasslands, gravelly hilltops, oak woodlands. Coastal or valley grasslands, grassy and rocky hills, sandy soils, road edges, coastal scrub, serpentine slopes.
Elevation 50–800 m. (200–2600 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Triphysaria micrantha is known from central California from the coast to the Sierra Nevada.

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

Triphysaria floribunda is known from the San Francisco Bay area. The species is threatened by grazing, non-native plants, and trampling (California Native Plant Society, http://www.rareplants.cnps.org); only 14 of the 150 specimens for T. floribunda in the California Consortium of Herbaria portal (http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/consortium) were collected after 1971.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 686. FNA vol. 17, p. 686.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Triphysaria Orobanchaceae > Triphysaria
Sibling taxa
T. eriantha, T. floribunda, T. pusilla, T. versicolor
T. eriantha, T. micrantha, T. pusilla, T. versicolor
Synonyms Orthocarpus micranthus, O. erianthus var. micranthus Orthocarpus floribundus
Name authority (Greene ex A. Heller) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 660. (1991) (Bentham) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 660. (1991)
Web links