Chloropyron

Chloropyron SALTY 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.

Chloropyron

Habit: Annual 10--60 cm, green, branches few to many; roots +- yellow. Leaf: alternate, sessile, 5--35 mm, entire, lanceolate to oblong. Inflorescence: spike, loose to dense, subtended by outer, leaf-like bracts; inner bract 1 per flower, +- leaf-like, entire or pinnately lobed. Flower: calyx = or slightly < corolla, sheath-like, generally cut completely to base abaxially, partially surrounding corolla tube laterally, notched +- 1 mm at tip; corolla 2-lipped, club-shaped, tubular below, expanded laterally, upper lip folded lengthwise, tip rounded, closed, opening directed downward forming a hood enclosing anthers and style; lower lip <= upper lip, obscurely 3-lobed; fertile stamens 4 and staminodes 0, or 2 with adaxial pair of staminodes (attached deeper in corolla tube), anther sacs generally 2 per stamen, +- overlapping, tufted-hairy at base, unequal in size and placement; ovary 2-chambered, glabrous, ovules many, style bent near tip, stigma barely exserted. Seed: attached at side; seed coat tight-fitting, netted. Chromosomes: n=14,15,21.
Species In Genus: 4 species: saline and alkaline habitats, western North America. Etymology: (Greek: salt pl) Note: Formerly included in Cordylanthus. Close to Dicranostegia, together forming the Pseudocordylanthus clade (see Tank et al. 2009); distinguished by salt-tolerant ecology, inflorescence, calyx, stamens; flowers May--Nov.
Jepson eFlora Author: Margriet Wetherwax & David C. Tank
Reference: Tank et al. 2009 Syst Bot 34:182--197
Unabridged Reference: Tank & Olmstead 2008 Amer J Bot 95:608--625
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Chloropyron

Previous taxon: Castilleja wightii
Next taxon: Chloropyron maritimum

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for this treatment: Margriet Wetherwax & David C. Tank 2012, Chloropyron, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=93762, accessed on April 23, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 23, 2024.