Burke: Castilleja miniata vs. Castilleja elmeri

	Castilleja miniata	Castilleja elmeri
	common paintbrush, scarlet paintbrush	Elmer's paintbrush
Habit	Perennial herb to 80 cm tall; stems in small clusters, often branched above.	Perennial herb, the stems clustered, erect or ascending from a woody base, 1.5-3 dm. tall, usually unbranched, viscid-villous.
Leaves	Simple, narrow with pointed tip; inflorescence leaves and bracts bright red, sometimes with a few small lobes.	Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, usually entire, viscid-puberulent; bracts broader than the leaves, oblong-ovate, viscid-villous, usually entire and rounded.
Flowers	Inconspicuous, greenish, tubular flowers, surrounded by a much showier bright red calyx and inflorescence bracts.	Inflorescence showy, crimson to yellow, with intermediate colors not uncommon; calyx 15-25 mm. long, equally cleft above and below, its primary lobes again divided into 2 blunt segments; corolla 20-30 mm. long, the upper lip nearly as long as the tube and 4-5 times as long as the dark green, thickened, lower lip; stamens 4; ovary superior.
Fruits	2-celled capsules with many seeds.	Capsule.
Comments	Our most common Castilleja in the mountians.

	Castilleja miniata	Castilleja elmeri
Identification notes	A few traits to look for include the narrow unlobed leaves; bright red inflorescence; sharply pointed calyx lobes, and greenish flowers much longer than calyx. Castilleja is a difficult genus; consult technical keys.
Flowering time	May-September	June-August
Habitat	Mountain meadows and slopes; also on coastal bluffs; widespread and common.	Moist, open slopes at middle elevations to the subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes region. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington from the Wenatchee Mountains and northward; south-central British Columbia to Kittitas County in Washington. [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. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. minor, C. parviflora, C. rupicola, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. victoriae	C. ambigua, C. attenuata, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, 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. miniata var. dixonii, C. miniata var. miniata
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 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, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Castilleja elmeri

common paintbrush, scarlet paintbrush

Elmer's paintbrush

Habit

Perennial herb to 80 cm tall; stems in small clusters, often branched above.

Perennial herb, the stems clustered, erect or ascending from a woody base, 1.5-3 dm. tall, usually unbranched, viscid-villous.

Leaves

Simple, narrow with pointed tip;

inflorescence leaves and bracts bright red, sometimes with a few small lobes.

Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, usually entire, viscid-puberulent;

bracts broader than the leaves, oblong-ovate, viscid-villous, usually entire and rounded.

Flowers

Inconspicuous, greenish, tubular flowers, surrounded by a much showier bright red calyx and inflorescence bracts.

Inflorescence showy, crimson to yellow, with intermediate colors not uncommon;

calyx 15-25 mm. long, equally cleft above and below, its primary lobes again divided into 2 blunt segments;

corolla 20-30 mm. long, the upper lip nearly as long as the tube and 4-5 times as long as the dark green, thickened, lower lip;

stamens 4;

ovary superior.

Fruits

2-celled capsules with many seeds.

Capsule.

Comments

Our most common Castilleja in the mountians.

A few traits to look for include the narrow unlobed leaves; bright red inflorescence; sharply pointed calyx lobes, and greenish flowers much longer than calyx. Castilleja is a difficult genus; consult technical keys.

Flowering time

May-September

June-August

Habitat

Mountain meadows and slopes; also on coastal bluffs; widespread and common.

Moist, open slopes at middle elevations to the subalpine.

Distribution

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes region.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington from the Wenatchee Mountains and northward; south-central British Columbia to Kittitas County in Washington.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa