Burke: Castilleja litoralis vs. Castilleja ambigua

	Castilleja litoralis	Castilleja ambigua
	coast paintbrush, Pacific paintbrush	paint-brush owl-clover
Habit		Slender annual 1-3.5 dm. tall, the stem simple or branched, with short, spreading hairs.
Leaves		Leaves alternate, all cauline, lanceolate to oblong or ovate, 1-5 cm. long, scabrous-puberulent, the lower leaves mostly entire, the upper with 1 or 2 pairs of short, slender segments.
Flowers		Flowers in a dense spike, the bracts gradually differentiated from the leaves, becoming cleft into several short, round-tipped segments, these white, yellow or purple; calyx 4-parted and deeply 2-cleft, the bifid tips colored like the bract tips; corolla 14-25 mm. long, yellow with purple markings, two-lipped, narrow, the tube gradually expanded to the saccate lower lip, which has 3 purple teeth 1-3 mm. long; upper lip straight, undivided, 1-2 mm. longer than the teeth on the lower lip; stamens 4, attached near the top of the corolla tube; stigma entire; ovary superior.
Fruits		Capsule.

	Castilleja litoralis	Castilleja ambigua
Flowering time		June-September
Habitat		Margins of coastal salt marshes and brackish areas.
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest along the coast in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. ambigua, C. attenuata, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. hispida, C. levisecta, C. lutescens, C. miniata, C. minor, C. parviflora, C. rupicola, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. victoriae	C. attenuata, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. hispida, C. levisecta, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. miniata, C. minor, C. parviflora, C. rupicola, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. victoriae
Subordinate taxa		C. ambigua var. ambigua
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Castilleja ambigua

coast paintbrush, Pacific paintbrush

paint-brush owl-clover

Habit

Slender annual 1-3.5 dm. tall, the stem simple or branched, with short, spreading hairs.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, all cauline, lanceolate to oblong or ovate, 1-5 cm. long, scabrous-puberulent, the lower leaves mostly entire, the upper with 1 or 2 pairs of short, slender segments.

Flowers

Flowers in a dense spike, the bracts gradually differentiated from the leaves, becoming cleft into several short, round-tipped segments, these white, yellow or purple;

calyx 4-parted and deeply 2-cleft, the bifid tips colored like the bract tips;

corolla 14-25 mm. long, yellow with purple markings, two-lipped, narrow, the tube gradually expanded to the saccate lower lip, which has 3 purple teeth 1-3 mm. long; upper lip straight, undivided, 1-2 mm. longer than the teeth on the lower lip;

stamens 4, attached near the top of the corolla tube;

stigma entire;

ovary superior.

Fruits

Capsule.