Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. pallescens

Pallid bird's-beak, Pallid Bird's-Beak

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Pallid bird's-beak is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in the Black Butte area of northern California's Cascade Range Highlands in open volcanic alluvium at elevations of 900 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces pale flowers in small clusters of 3 to 6 blossoms with delicate, loosely arranged stems. Growing with slender, weakly glandular stems that are generally puberulent and long-hairy, it reaches a modest height with an upright, thin structure. Its leaves are distinctively linear, creating a sparse and elongated appearance along the stem. The flower's corolla ranges from 10 to 15 millimeters long, with outer bracts that are three-lobed and inner bract hairs less than 1 millimeter in length.

Habitat: Open volcanic alluvium

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 900-1200 m

Bioregions: CaRH (near Black Butte, Siskiyou Co.).

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