Cordylanthus

Cordylanthus BIRD'S-BEAK

Higher Taxonomy

Family: Orobanchaceae

Common Name: BROOMRAPE FAMILY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, shrub; often glandular; root-parasites, roots modified into absorptive structures. Stem: generally round in ×-section. Leaf: generally simple, generally alternate, reduced to +- fleshy scales in non-green plants lacking chlorophyll; stipules generally 0. Inflorescence: spike to panicle, generally bracted, or flowers 1--2 in axils. Flower: bisexual; calyx lobes 0--5; corolla generally strongly bilateral, generally 2-lipped (upper lip generally 2-lobed, lower lip generally 3-lobed), abaxial lobes outside other lobes in bud; stamens epipetalous, 4 in 2 pairs (sometimes 1 pair sterile), additional staminode 0(1), anther sacs unequal; ovary superior, chambers 1--2, placentas 2--4, parietal, style 1, stigma lobes 0 or 2. Fruit: capsule, generally +- ovoid, loculicidal, valves 2--4. Seed: many, small, angled; surface smooth or netted.
Genera In Family: +- 100 genera, 2060 species: worldwide, especially northern temperate and Africa. Note: High yield losses in many crops caused by Orobanche and Phelipanche species in Africa, Mediterranean, Middle East, and eastern Europe. Taxa of Orobanche in TJM2 treated here in Aphyllon and Phelipanche.
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Robert W. Patterson, Bruce G. Baldwin.

Cordylanthus

Habit: Annual, gray- or yellow-green, often becoming red-purple, generally much-branched; roots +- yellow. Leaf: sessile, entire, thread-like to lanceolate or palmately 3--7-lobed, segments narrow. Inflorescence: short dense spike (subtended by bracts), < 2(5) cm or flowers 1, scattered or often clustered but not in spikes (each subtended by outer bract); outer bracts +- leaf-like; inner bract calyx-like (formerly confused with calyx), 0--7-lobed. Flower: calyx sheath-like, generally divided to base abaxially, partially surrounding corolla tube laterally, tip entire or shallowly notched; corolla club-shaped, tubular proximally, expanded laterally; upper corolla lip folded lengthwise, tip rounded, closed, opening directed downwards forming a hood enclosing anthers, style; lower corolla lip <= upper lip, obscurely 3-lobed, middle lobe tightly rolled under, tip distinctly folded inside-out; fertile stamens (2)4, anther sacs generally 2 per stamen, densely hairy at both ends and ciliate along line of dehiscence, unequal in size and placement; style bent near tip, stigma barely exserted. Seed: attached at side; seed coat tight-fitting, netted or irregularly striate.
Species In Genus: 13 species: western North America. Etymology: (Greek: club-shaped flower) Note: Close to Orthocarpus, distinguished by inflorescence, calyx, stamens; generally flowers Jul--Sep. Other taxa in TJM (1993) moved to Chloropyron, Dicranostegia.
Jepson eFlora Author: Margriet Wetherwax & David C. Tank
Reference: Tank et al. 2009 Syst Bot 34:182--197
Unabridged Reference: Chuang & Heckard 1986 Syst Bot Monogr 10:1--105; Tank & Olmstead 2008 Amer J Bot 95:608--625
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Cordylanthus

Previous taxon: Chloropyron tecopense
Next taxon: Cordylanthus capitatus

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Citation for this treatment: Margriet Wetherwax & David C. Tank 2012, Cordylanthus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=11352, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.