Burke: Castilleja thompsonii

	Castilleja thompsonii
	Thompson's paintbrush
Habit	Perennial herb; stems clustered, erect to ascending, 1-4 dm tall, hairy, often tinged with maroon.
Leaves	Lower leaves simple, linear; upper leaves narrow with 3-5 linear lobes; lightly hairy. Inflorescence leaves (bracts) yellowish-tinged.
Flowers	Calyx 12-25 mm long, maroonish in color, with 4 acute lobes at tip, cleft more deeply above and below than on sides. Corolla incospicuous, greenish, hidden within the more showy calyx, the galea (upper beak) short, the lower lip greater than 1/2 length of galea, scarcely pouched. Ovary superior, 2-celled.
Fruits	Many-seeded capsules.
Comments	Plants found at higher elevations tend to be smaller, less pubescent and more glandular.

	Castilleja thompsonii
Identification notes	Can be sufficiently separated from other Castilleja species in Washington by the combination of perennial habit, yellowish inflorescences, acute calyx tips with median clefts deeper than the lateral clefts, greenish corolla enclosed by the calyx (or nearly so), and close association with sagebrush. See also Castilleja cervina.
Flowering time	May-September
Habitat	Dry sagebrush deserts to high mountain ridges.
Distribution	East of the Cascade summits in Washington; British Columbia south to Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	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. miniata, C. minor, C. parviflora, C. rupicola, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuis, C. victoriae
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, 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 thompsonii

Thompson's paintbrush

Habit

Perennial herb; stems clustered, erect to ascending, 1-4 dm tall, hairy, often tinged with maroon.

Leaves

Lower leaves simple, linear; upper leaves narrow with 3-5 linear lobes; lightly hairy. Inflorescence leaves (bracts) yellowish-tinged.

Flowers

Calyx 12-25 mm long, maroonish in color, with 4 acute lobes at tip, cleft more deeply above and below than on sides. Corolla incospicuous, greenish, hidden within the more showy calyx, the galea (upper beak) short, the lower lip greater than 1/2 length of galea, scarcely pouched. Ovary superior, 2-celled.

Fruits

Many-seeded capsules.

Comments

Plants found at higher elevations tend to be smaller, less pubescent and more glandular.

Castilleja thompsonii

Identification notes

Can be sufficiently separated from other Castilleja species in Washington by the combination of perennial habit, yellowish inflorescences, acute calyx tips with median clefts deeper than the lateral clefts, greenish corolla enclosed by the calyx (or nearly so), and close association with sagebrush. See also Castilleja cervina.

Flowering time

May-September

Habitat

Dry sagebrush deserts to high mountain ridges.

Distribution