Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Yellow-beak False Owl's-clover

Triphysaria versicolor

Fisch. & C. A. Mey.

Yellow-beak False Owl's-clover

G4Apparently Secure Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.158112
Element CodePDSCR2T020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderScrophulariales
FamilyOrobanchaceae
GenusTriphysaria
Other Common Names
bearded owl's-clover (EN) Triphysaire versicolore (FR)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-03-28
Change Date2025-03-28
Edition Date2025-03-28
Edition AuthorsN. Ventrella (2025)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 - 300
Rank Reasons
Triphysaria versicolor is an annual forb occurring in grasslands, meadows, prairies, headlands, rock outcrops, and vernally moist seeps of western North America, found in British Columbia, Canada, and Oregon and California in the United States. There are an estimated 207 occurrences of this species, which are threatened by development, right-of-way construction and maintenance, invasive species, habitat alteration, and other threats in some places. Little is known about threats and trends, and monitoring populations is important to improving our understanding of the status of Triphysaria versicolor.
Range Extent Comments
Triphysaria versicolor occurs in western North America, in British Columbia, Canada, and Oregon and California in the United States (FNA 2019). The Canadian populations are disjunct (approximately 400 km north) from the nearest populations in Oregon, potentially due to lack of available habitat or other factors (glacial refugia). Range extent was estimated using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data collected between 1994 and 2025 (RARECAT 2024, GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, SEINet 2025). See individual entries for distribution details about the two subspecies.
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025, it is estimated that there are 207 occurrences rangewide (RARECAT 2024, GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, SEINet 2025).
Threat Impact Comments
Although threats are not widely documented, Triphysaria versicolor is potentially threatened by development, right-of-way construction and maintenance, invasive species, habitat alteration, and other threats in some places. In British Columbia, this species is considered critically imperiled due to the threats listed above (FNA 2019).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Triphysaria versicolor occurs in "grasslands, vernally moist seeps to dry grassy meadows, headlands, rock outcrops, [and] coastal prairies" from 0 to 700 m in elevation (FNA 2019). In California, populations can be found in northern coastal scrub and mixed evergreen forest communities (CalFlora 2025).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - MixedShrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceousBare rock/talus/screeCliff
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN4
ProvinceRankNative
CaliforniaSNRYes
OregonSNRYes
CanadaN1
ProvinceRankNative
British ColumbiaS1Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

—

Plant Characteristics
DurationANNUAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (1)
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
Siskiyou BSix Rivers National Forest18,871
References (8)
  1. CalFlora. 2025. Information on California plants for education, research and conservation. Berkeley, California: The CalFlora Database [web application]. Available: http://www.calflora.org/. (Accessed 2025).
  2. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2019. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 17: Magnoliophyta: Tetrachondraceae to Orobanchaceae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiv + 737 pp.
  3. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2025. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2025).
  4. iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
  5. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  6. NatureServe. 2025. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  7. NatureServe's Rapid Analysis of Rarity and Endangerment Conservation Assessment Tool (RARECAT). 2024. Version: 1.1.1 (released Oct 01, 2024).
  8. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2025. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2025).