Low clumps with multiple white flowers and thick, gray-green hairy
leaves. The outer bract is
leaf-like, the inner bracts are often notched near the apex. The corolla is two-lipped, hairy and white or cream with yellow tips; it has sharp-toothed calyces that enclose the proximal part of the corolla which is shorter than the calyx. Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 5-22-2010. © Joan Avise |
Salt Marsh Bird's Beak Cordylanthus maritimus ssp. maritimus A patchy, local annual on sandy soil in upper coastal salt marsh. Hemiparasitic, with Batis and Salicornia (two species of pickleweed) as host plants.Federal Status: Endangered Orobanchaceae Back to Orobanchaceae of Orange County, California |
It is halophylic, concentrating and excreting salts that produce a grainy crust on the foliage (left). The fruit is a capsule containing brown net-textured seeds (left). Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 5-22-2010. © Joan Avise |
There are many branches with a central spike. Here growing with Salicornia as host plant. Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 5-22-2010. © Joan Avise |
Thriving colony. Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 5-22-2010. © Joan Avise |
The largest of the remaining three populations in southern California, at Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 5-22-2010. © Joan Avise |
On sand with Batis and Salicornia as host plants. Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 5-22-2010. © Joan Avise |
Gray-green leaves tinged with purple. Upper Newport Bay, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 5-22-2010. © Joan Avise |