Melampyrum lineare Desr.
American cow wheat (cow-wheat; narrowleaf cowwheat; platterful mushroom)
Orobanchaceae (Broom-rape family)
(Previously in Scrophulariaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Bryan Kelly-McArthur     (Photo ID #66006)

Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Melampyrum lineare
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC

Melampyrum lineare var. lineare

Species Information

General:
Annual herb; stems slender, ascending to erect, 10-40 cm tall, simple or commonly with a few branches, nearly smooth to minutely hairy or glandular, especially above.
Leaves:
Opposite, short-stalked, lanceolate to linear, mostly entire, the uppermost leaves often toothed near the base, 2-5 cm long, smooth or glandular.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a leafy-bracted terminal spike, or of solitary, short-stalked flowers in the upper leaf axils; corollas white to straw-coloured or pinkish, tubular with a yellow patch in the throat, 5-12 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip hood-like, the lower lip 3-lobed; calyces cup-shaped, deeply 4-lobed, the lobes awl-shaped; stamens 4.
Fruits:
Capsules, curved, asymmetrically egg-shaped, flattened, 8-10 mm long; seeds 1 to 4, 2-4 mm long, blackish with light-coloured tips when mature.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Melampyrum lineare

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
 Value / Class

Avg

Min

Max
Elevation (metres)
 902 8 2010
Slope Gradient (%)
 13 0 80

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

 193 0 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		3 0 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
 C
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
 568
Modal BEC Zone Class
 SBS

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

 BWBS(12), CWH(8), ESSF(18), ICH(105), IDF(90), MS(48), PP(3), SBPS(49), SBS(220)

Habitat and Range

Dry to mesic grassy openings, sandy or gravelly terraces, rocky slopes and open forests in the lowland and montane zones; locally frequent in BC south of 57degreeN, except absent on the Queen Charlotte Islands; E to NF and S to ME, PA, SC, TN, WI, MN, MT, ID and WA.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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