Cordylanthus capitatus

Yakima bird's-beak

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Yakima bird's-beak is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native annual found in western bioregions in open conifer forest and juniper woodland at elevations of 1,800 to 2,150 meters. Flowering from August to October, this plant produces maroon flowers with yellow tips in dense head-like spikes 15 to 20 millimeters long. Growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall with a glaucous-green or gray-purple stem that is densely covered in glandular and non-glandular hairs. Its leaves are linear, entire, and 20 to 40 millimeters long. The seed capsule contains 4 to 6 nearly kidney-shaped seeds approximately 2 to 2.5 millimeters long with a shallow net-like surface.

Habitat: Open conifer forest, juniper woodland

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: 1800-2150 m

Bioregions: Wrn

California counties: Modoc, Los Angeles

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.