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

dwarf false owl-clover, dwarf owl's-clover, dwarf owl's-clover or johnny-tuck, dwarf owl-clover, dwarf triphysaria, little 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 1–6 decumbent to ascending branches proximally, (2–)4–15(–30) cm, glabrous proximally, 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).

puberulent;

proximal cauline: blade linear, 5–30 mm;

cauline: blade ± ovate to obovate, 5–30 mm, base sessile, margins pinnatifid, rarely bipinnatifid, lateral lobes 2–8, threadlike.

Pedicels

0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous, rarely sparsely puberulent.

0.3–1 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 (3–)5–7 mm, puberulent, tube 2–3 mm, lobes triangular to narrowly lanceolate, (1.5–)2–3.5 × 1.5–2 mm;

corolla dark purple, rarely yellow, 4–7 mm, glabrate, beak dark purple, hooked, abaxial lobes spreading, 0.5–1 mm, throat not abruptly indented, not forming a fold under abaxial corolla lip, adaxial lobes projecting;

stamens included, pollen sac yellow, 0.7–0.8 mm, glabrous, dehiscing longitudinally;

style 2.5–5 mm, glabrous;

stigma filiform or subcapitate.

Capsules

3–5.5 × 3–4 mm, glabrous.

3.5–5 × 2.5–3.5 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

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

10–30, ovoid to ellipsoid, 0.7–1.2 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, open distally, (1.5–)2.5–15 cm;

peduncle absent;

bracts pinnatifid, rarely bipinnatifid, ± obovate, 5–19 mm, lateral lobes 2–6(–10), threadlike.

2n

= 22.

= 22.

Triphysaria micrantha

Triphysaria pusilla

Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Grasslands, gravelly hilltops, oak woodlands. Grasslands, lawns, pastures, roadsides, edges of vernal pools, woodlands.
Elevation 50–800 m. (200–2600 ft.) 0–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC [Introduced in Asia (China)]
[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.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 686. FNA vol. 17, p. 687.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Triphysaria Orobanchaceae > Triphysaria
Sibling taxa
T. eriantha, T. floribunda, T. pusilla, T. versicolor
T. eriantha, T. floribunda, T. micrantha, T. versicolor
Synonyms Orthocarpus micranthus, O. erianthus var. micranthus Orthocarpus pusillus, O. chinensis
Name authority (Greene ex A. Heller) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 660. (1991) (Bentham) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 661. (1991)
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