Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus
(c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus is a native California herb in the Orobanchaceae family.
Viscid bird's beak is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, and northern Sierra Nevada in open yellow-pine forest on serpentine at elevations of 200 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces small white to pale yellow flowers in loose clusters of one to three blossoms. Growing with stems that are densely glandular-sticky and covered in long soft hairs, it reaches heights of 10 to 30 centimeters. Its leaves are slender and linear, providing a delicate texture to the plant's overall appearance. The flower bracts are distinctively three-lobed, with inner bract hairs less than one millimeter long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: Co-occurs with 16 other Cordylanthus taxa; key differentiator is densely glandular-sticky stem indument and serpentine habitat specificity
Habitat and range
Habitat: Open yellow-pine forest on serpentine
Elevation: 200-2000 m
Outside California: Oregon
Bloom period
Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus blooms Jul-Aug.
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 subsp. viscidus native to California?
Yes. Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus bloom?
Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus blooms Jul-Aug.
What plant family does Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus belong to?
Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus is in the Orobanchaceae family, genus Cordylanthus.
What habitat does Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus grow in?
Cordylanthus tenuis subsp. viscidus grows in Open yellow-pine forest on serpentine.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
- Cordylanthus capitatus — Yakima bird's-beak
- Cordylanthus eremicus — Desert bird's beak
- Cordylanthus eremicus subsp. eremicus — Desert bird's-beak
- Cordylanthus eremicus subsp. kernensis — Kern plateau bird's-beak
- Cordylanthus kingii subsp. helleri
- Cordylanthus nevinii — Nevin's bird's beak
- Dicranostegia orcuttiana — Orcutt's bird's-beak
- Dicranostegia sp.
- Kopsiopsis hookeri — Small ground-cone
- Kopsiopsis sp. — Ground-cone
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.