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Flowers


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Cordylanthus wrightii - Wright's bird's beak

Synonyms: Adenostegia wrightii
Other Common Names: Wright's Bird's-Beak, Wright bird's-beak
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Scrophulariaceae


   
 
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Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Plant
Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Annual   Similar Species: Cordylanthus wrightii var. pauciflora , C. wrightii ssp. tenuifolius
General Desc: Much-branched, partially parasitic; yellow or yellow and purple club-shaped flowers resembling a bird's beak grow in dense head-like clusters at the branch tips where leaf-like sepals partly hide the flower; green thread-like leaves are deeply divided.
Identification notes: Much-branched annual; finely divided leaves of 3 to 5 divisions; tight head-like clusters of hairy, yellow or yellow and purple flowers at branch tips; flowers fused into a tube, strongly 2-lipped at the top, subtended by 1 or more finely divided bracts.
Height: To nearly 20 inches


Habitat

Habitat Description: Found on roadsides, flats, sandy areas on plains and mesas, dry hillsides, often in open pine forests and growing among junipers.
Plant Communities: Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 5000 - 7500 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: Yellow, yellow and purple     Shape: Irregular in round clusters     Tubular: Y     Flowering Period: Jul - Oct
Description: The flowering stem is a dense head-like cluster with 2 to 10 flowers (usually 2 or 3) but sometimes solitary. Each flower is about 1/2 to 1 inch long, covered in white hairs, minutely glandular and club-shaped with 2 lips that are nearly equal in size.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green, can be tinged with pink     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Pinnatifid     Leaf Margin: Dissected     Leaf Attachment: Alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Leaves and stems often finely hairy but can be smooth; leaves are 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches long, deeply divided into 3 to 5 very narrow thread-like segments all along the stems. Lower leaf margins are 3 to 7 lobed, upper leaf margins smooth or dissected.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Color: Brown   
Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Fruit about 1/2 inch long, dry, slender, flattened, oblong, 2 chambers (cavities) of seeds; fruit opens at maturity to release numerous seeds.
Seed Notes: Seeds are brown, about 1/16 inch long, oblong to egg-shaped, honeycombed (containing many small holes in its structure) with net-like markings on its surface.



  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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