Cordylanthus maritimus

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Cordylanthus maritimus

ssp. palustris

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Orobanchaceae
Genus:	Cordylanthus
Species:	C. maritmus

Binomial name

Cordylanthus maritimus
Nutt. ex Benth.

Cordylanthus maritimus is a rare species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name salt marsh bird's beak. 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. 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. Subspecies of this plant, especially ssp. maritima, are considered endangered species on the federal level in the United States and/or the state level in Oregon and California.