Orthocarpus luteus
Encyclopedia
Orthocarpus luteus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family
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 yellow owl's clover. It is native to much of western and central North America, where it grows in many types of plateau, grassland, and mountain habitat.

Description

It is an annual herb producing a slender, hairy, glandular, bright yellowish green to deep purple stem up to about 40 centimeters tall. The narrow leaves are up to 5 centimeters long, the upper ones sometimes divided into three lobes. 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...

 is a dense cylindrical spike of 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 flowers emerging from between them. The lightly hairy flowers are 1 to 1.5 centimeters long and bright yellow in color. They are club-shaped, the upper lip a tiny, curving beak and the lower lip a narrow pouch.

External links

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