Kingdom Plantae Family Orobanchaceae Scientific name Cordylanthus maritimus Rank Species | Order Lamiales Genus Cordylanthus Higher classification Cordylanthus | |
Similar Cordylanthus, Jaumea carnosa, Cordylanthus mollis, Castilleja ambigua, Limonium californicum | ||
Cordylanthus maritimus is a rare species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common names salt marsh bird's beak and Point Reyes bird's beak. It is sometimes referred to as Chloropyron maritimum.
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Distribution
It is native to the Southwestern United States and northern Baja California. This is a halophyte which grows in areas of high salt concentrations, including coastal salt marshes and the inland salt flats of the Great Basin. It is hemiparasitic, such that it is greenish and has chlorophyll but also parasitizes other plants by inserting haustoria into their roots to tap nutrients.
Description
This plant grows in low clumps and has small, thick, gray-green hairy leaves often tinted with purple. It concentrates and excretes salts, giving its foliage a grainy crust. It erects an inflorescence several centimeters high which has many fuzz-covered white or cream club-shaped flowers with yellow or purplish tips. The fruit is a capsule containing many brown net-textured seeds.
Endangered species
Subspecies of this plant are considered endangered species. Cordylanthus maritimus ssp. maritimus is listed as Endangered by the State of California and the United States Government. Cordylanthus maritimus ssp. palustris (Point Reyes bird's beak) is included in the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California.