Cordylanthus parviflorus
Encyclopedia
Cordylanthus parviflorus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family
known by the common name purple bird's beak. It is native to the western United States where it grows in several types of habitat, including the sagebrush steppe
of the Great Basin
. It is an annual herb, red-tinted gray-green in color, and hairy, glandular, and sticky in texture. It grows 20 to 60 centimeters tall. The inflorescence
bears flowers accompanied by hairy, lobed red-green bract
s. The flower is up to 2 centimeters long, made up of a dark-veined pink pouch enveloped in darker 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 purple bird's beak. It is native to the western United States where it grows in several types of habitat, including the sagebrush steppe
Sagebrush steppe
The sagebrush steppe is a type of shrub-steppe, which is a dry-xeric environment and plant community found in the Western United States and western Canada...
of the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
. It is an annual herb, red-tinted gray-green in color, and hairy, glandular, and sticky in texture. It grows 20 to 60 centimeters tall. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
bears flowers accompanied by hairy, lobed red-green 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. The flower is up to 2 centimeters long, made up of a dark-veined pink pouch enveloped in darker 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.