Orthocarpus cuspidatus subsp. copelandii

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Copeland's owl's-clover is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, and northern Sierra Nevada Mountains on open, grassy to rocky slopes at elevations of 1,200 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from June to August, this delicate plant produces flowers with a distinctive long beak, ranging 14 to 18 millimeters in length with pouches approximately 3 millimeters deep. Growing with slender stems that support multiple flower clusters, it emerges as a delicate and ephemeral summer wildflower. Its leaves are narrow and elongated, typical of the owl's-clover genus, complementing the plant's airy and graceful structure. The plant's unique flower shape, with an extended beak significantly longer than its lower lip, distinguishes it within its botanical group.

Habitat: Open, grassy to rocky slopes

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1200-2300 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaR, n SNH (Plumas Co.)

California counties: Trinity, Mono, Siskiyou, Alpine, Madera, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Modoc, Plumas, Nevada, Glenn, Lassen, Mendocino, Humboldt, Sierra

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