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bearded false owl-clover, bearded owl-clover, dwarf owl-clover, smooth owl's-clover, smooth triphysaria, yellow owl's clover, yellow-beak owl's-clover

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

Stems

simple or with 1–20 ascending branches, 5–60(–80) cm, glabrous proximally, sparsely pubescent distally.

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

Leaves

glabrous or sparsely pubescent;

proximal cauline: blade linear, 3–30(–80) mm;

cauline: blade ± ovate or obovate, 15–90 mm, base sessile, margins pinnatifid, rarely bipinnatifid, lateral lobes 3–9.

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).

Pedicels

1–2 mm, glabrous.

0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous, rarely sparsely puberulent.

Flowers

calyx 5–11 mm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent, tube 4–8 mm, lobes narrowly triangular, 1.5–5 × 1–2 mm;

corolla yellow, rarely yellow and white, or white, fading to rose pink, 12–25(–27) mm, densely short-hairy, beak ± yellow, white, or rose pink, not hooked, abaxial lobes spreading, 2–4 mm, throat abruptly indented, forming a fold under abaxial corolla lip, adaxial lobes projecting;

stamens included, pollen sac yellow, 1.7–3 mm, glabrous, dehiscing longitudinally;

style 10–20 mm, glabrous;

stigma capitate.

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.

Capsules

6–9(–10) × 3.5–5 mm, glabrous.

3–5.5 × 3–4 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

15–60, ovoid, 0.6–1 mm.

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

Spikelike

racemes interrupted, dense distally, 2–30 cm;

peduncle absent;

bracts pinnatifid, ± ovate or obovate, 6–22 mm, lateral lobes 2–7.

racemes interrupted, open distally, 0.5–11 cm;

peduncle absent;

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

2n

= 22.

Triphysaria versicolor

Triphysaria micrantha

Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr.
Habitat Grasslands, gravelly hilltops, oak woodlands.
Elevation 50–800 m. (200–2600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

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

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

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

Key
1. Corollas white, fading to rose pink, beaks white or rose pink.
subsp. versicolor
1. Corollas yellow, rarely yellow with white, beaks yellow or white.
subsp. faucibarbata
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 687. FNA vol. 17, p. 686.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Triphysaria Orobanchaceae > Triphysaria
Sibling taxa
T. eriantha, T. floribunda, T. micrantha, T. pusilla
T. eriantha, T. floribunda, T. pusilla, T. versicolor
Subordinate taxa
T. versicolor subsp. faucibarbata, T. versicolor subsp. versicolor
Synonyms Orthocarpus erianthus var. versicolor, O. versicolor Orthocarpus micranthus, O. erianthus var. micranthus
Name authority Fischer & C. A. Meyer: Index Seminum (St. Petersburg) 2: 52. (1836) (Greene ex A. Heller) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 660. (1991)
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