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Cordylanthus rigidus
Also called Rigid Bird's Beak, Stiff Branch Bird's Beak
Cordylanthus rigidus, stiffbranch bird's beak, is a hairy annual herb from California and Baja California, grown mainly as a wildflower rather than a garden plant. It is a partial root parasite on other plants, so it is hard to cultivate outside its native habitat.
Cordylanthus rigidus is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common name stiffbranch bird's beak.
It is native to California and northern Baja California, where it grows in many types of habitat from coastal flats to high inland mountains. This is a hairy annual herb growing to maximum heights anywhere from 30 centimeters to 1.5 meters. There are at least four subspecies and possibly natural varieties not distinct enough to be considered subspecies. There is great variety in the appearance of the plant. The stem and foliage vary in color from greenish to yellows and reds; like other members of its family this species is a parasite on other plants so it does not rely entirely on green chlorophyll to produce its own nutrients. Its leaves are linear in shape and 1 to 4 centimeters long. The edges may roll in.
Yakima bird's-beak · Desert bird's-beak · Nevin's bird's-beak · Mt. Diablo bird's-beak · Purple bird's-beak · Hairy bird's-beak · Bushy bird's beak · Slender bird's beak · Wright's bird's beak · Bird's Beak
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cordylanthus rigidus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
