Cordylanthus tenuis
Slender bird's beak
(c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Cordylanthus tenuis (Slender bird's beak) is a native California herb in the Orobanchaceae family.
Slender bird's beak is a California native annual herb found in grasslands and open woodland areas at elevations between 100 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces delicate white flowers with maroon blotches and yellow tips, clustered in loose groups of one to seven blossoms. Growing with wiry stems 20 to 120 centimeters tall that are grayish-green or tinged with maroon, it appears slender and relatively sparse. Its leaves are narrow and linear, measuring 10 to 60 millimeters long, with minimal hair or texture. The plant produces six to sixteen dark brown seeds that are slightly ovoid and finely textured with wavy striations.
Habitat and range
California counties: Mendocino, Fresno, Tuolumne, Butte, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Sierra, Sacramento, Colusa, Plumas, Mariposa
How to tell it apart
vs Dicranostegia: Cordylanthus has flowers in short dense spikes under 2cm; Dicranostegia has flowers scattered singly along stem.; vs Castilleja: Cordylanthus has closed hood with rolled lower lip; Castilleja has open beak without rolled lip.; vs Dittrichia: Cordylanthus has tubular two-lipped flowers; Dittrichia has yellow daisy flowers with many ray petals.; vs Chloropyron: Cordylanthus has palmately divided leaves; Chloropyron has succulent undivided leaves in salt marsh habitat.; vs Deinandra: Cordylanthus has tubular two-lipped flowers; Deinandra has yellow daisy flowers with notched ray petals.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cordylanthus tenuis native to California?
Yes. Cordylanthus tenuis is native to California (recorded as native).
Where in California does Cordylanthus tenuis grow?
Cordylanthus tenuis occurs in Mendocino, Fresno, Tuolumne, Butte, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, Nevada and other counties.
What plant family does Cordylanthus tenuis belong to?
Cordylanthus tenuis is in the Orobanchaceae family, genus Cordylanthus.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
- Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. barbatus — Fresno county bird's-beak
- Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. brunneus — Serpentine bird's-beak
- Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. capillaris — Pennell's bird's-beak
- Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. pallescens — Pallid bird's-beak
- Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. tenuis
- Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.