Cordylanthus rigidus subsp. brevibracteatus

Short-bracted bird's-beak, Short-Bracted Bird's-Beak

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Short-bracted bird's-beak is a rare (CNPS 4.3) California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in granitic openings within Jeffrey-pine and pinyon/juniper forest and sagebrush scrub at elevations of 850 to 2,560 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces flowers with pale green to yellow-green corollas 8 to 17 millimeters long in compact clusters. Growing with slender stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it develops delicate branching structures with distinctive bracts. Its leaves are narrow and relatively sparse, with short, bristly outer bracts 5 to 10 millimeters long that are partially lobed in the upper half. The plant's inflorescences are compact, containing 2 to 12 flowers spread across 10 to 20 millimeters in width.

Habitat: Granitic openings in Jeffrey-pine and pinyon/juniper forest, sagebrush scrub

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: 850-2560 m

Bioregions: s SNH.

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