Cordylanthus nidularius
Encyclopedia
Cordylanthus nidularius is a rare species of flowering plant in the broomrape family
known by the common name Mt. Diablo bird's beak. It is endemic to Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay Area
in California
, where it grows in chaparral
on serpentine soil
s. This small annual herb is red-tinted gray-green in color and coated with glandular hairs and woolly fibers. The flowers are each surrounded by 2 or 3 bract
s divided into three narrow lobes up to 1.5 centimeters long. The corolla is a purple-streaked white pouch enclosed in a calyx of sepal
s.
Orobanchaceae
Orobanchaceae, the broomrape family, is a family of flowering plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae sensu lato...
known by the common name Mt. Diablo bird's beak. It is endemic to Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it grows in chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
on serpentine soil
Serpentine soil
A serpentine soil is derived from ultramafic rocks, in particular serpentinite, a rock formed by the hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle....
s. This small annual herb is red-tinted gray-green in color and coated with glandular hairs and woolly fibers. The flowers are each surrounded by 2 or 3 bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s divided into three narrow lobes up to 1.5 centimeters long. The corolla is a purple-streaked white pouch enclosed in a calyx of sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s.