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California paintbrush, coast Indian paintbrush, coast paintbrush, Indian paintbrush

Applegate's Indian paintbrush, Applegate's paintbrush, wavy leaf paintbrush, wavy-leaf Indian paintbrush, waxy-leaf Indian paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; caudex woody; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, (0.8–)1–5(–6) dm; from a branched, woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

few to many, erect to ascending, unbranched or branched at proximal nodes, sometimes with short, leafy axillary branches, hairs sparse to dense, spreading, short and long, soft to stiff, unbranched, sometimes branched, eglandular, sometimes stipitate-glandular.

few to many, erect, ascending, or decumbent, unbranched or branched, hairs sparse to dense, spreading, long, soft to ± stiff, eglandular, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.

Leaves

green or purplish, sometimes red-brown, linear or linear-oblong to broadly lanceolate, 2–13 cm, not or ± fleshy, margins wavy or plane, flat or involute, 0–5-lobed, sometimes with small secondary lobes, short, leafy axillary shoots common, usually conspicuous, apex acuminate or acute to rounded;

lobes spreading, linear to lanceolate, lateral lobes almost as wide as mid blade, apex acute to rounded.

green to purplish or brown, linear to broadly lanceolate, sometimes ovate, 1–6 cm, not fleshy, margins wavy, involute, (0–)3(–5)-lobed, apex rounded or narrowly acute to acuminate;

lobes spreading or ascending, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, often short, apex acute to rounded.

Inflorescences

3–25(–30) × 1.5–5 cm;

bracts proximally green or deep purple, distally red, crimson, scarlet, pink, pinkish purple, pinkish red, or yellow, sometimes rose magenta, red-orange, or orange, oblanceolate or obovate to oblong or lanceolate, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed;

lobes spreading to ascending, linear to obovate, long, proximal lobes at or arising below mid length, apices acute to obtuse, center lobe sometimes rounded.

2–12(–21 in fruit) × 1–5 cm;

bracts proximally green to dull purplish brown, distally red, red-orange, or scarlet, sometimes orange, white, or yellow, rarely with a narrow yellowish band medially, lanceolate, broadly lanceolate, oblong, or lanceolate-ovate, 3–5(–7)-lobed;

lobes spreading to ascending, linear, sometimes expanded near tip, long, arising from ca. mid length, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes expanded, others acute, rounded, obtuse, or acuminate.

Pedicels

0 mm or nearly so.

Corollas

straight or ± curved, 17–40 mm;

tube 10–15 mm;

beak long-exserted to subequal to calyx, adaxially green, 7–20 mm, puberulent, eglandular;

abaxial lip deep green to reddish, brown, or deep purple, reduced, inconspicuous, included in calyx, 1.5–3 mm, 15–25% as long as beak;

teeth ascending, green, 0.5–2 mm.

straight or curved in proximal 1/3, 16–35(–41) mm;

tube 9–22 mm;

beak usually long-exserted, adaxially green, yellow-green, or yellow, 6–20 mm;

abaxial lip deep green to whitish or yellow, reduced, inconspicuous, protuberant, thickened, included or exserted, 1–3 mm, 5–20% as long as beak;

teeth ascending or incurved, deep green to yellow, 0.5–1 mm.

Calyces

proximally pale or green, distally as in distal portion of bracts, 14–35 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 6–22 mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–7 mm, 15–25% of calyx length;

lobes lanceolate or oblong, apex acute to obtuse or rounded, sometimes curved upward.

proximally green or whitish, sometimes yellow, lobes colored as bract lobes, sometimes with a yellow band between proximal and distal portions, 13–25 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–14 mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2.5–8 mm, 12–50% of calyx length;

lobes lanceolate-acuminate, narrowly oblong, or narrowly triangular, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse.

2n

= 48, 72, 96.

= 24, 48.

Castilleja affinis

Castilleja applegatei

Distribution
from FNA
CA; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Castilleja affinis is highly variable and one of the more common paintbrushes at lower elevations in California, west of the Sierra Nevada, from the northern coast south to northern Baja California. Some recent authors (for example, M. Wetherwax et al. 2012) include C. litoralis of the Pacific Northwest coast as a subspecies of C. affinis, but due to the high polyploid nature of C. litoralis and its significantly closer morphological resemblance to C. miniata var. dixonii, that treatment is not followed here. Also see the comments under 62. C. litoralis.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).

Castilleja applegatei is a widespread and often common species, with complex patterns of variation and several common but inconstant color forms, especially in var. pinetorum. Castilleja disticha and C. martini, although sometimes included as subspecies within C. applegatei, are treated as species here. Both are more morphologically divergent and more easily distinguished from typical C. applegatei than are the four varieties accepted here. Variety pinetorum is the most widespread form and also occurs over a wider range of elevations than the other three varieties, which are primarily montane to subalpine and occasionally alpine.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Stem hairs branched; distal portion of bracts usually pink to pinkish purple or pinkish red; coastal San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
var. contentiosa
1. Stem hairs unbranched, rarely branched; distal portion of bracts usually bright red, red-orange, crimson, scarlet, or yellow; more widespread in w California.
→ 2
2. Distal portions of bracts bright red to red-orange, crimson, or scarlet, rarely yellow, orange, rose, magenta, or pinkish red; inflorescences (2.5–)3–5 cm wide; chaparral slopes, openings, open woods, coastal scrub, stabilized dunes; much of w California.
var. affinis
2. Distal portions of bracts yellow, rarely pink or pale red-orange, often becoming reddish tinted after anthesis; inflorescences 1.5–2.5 cm wide; serpentine substrates; San Francisco Bay region.
var. neglecta
1. Corollas 25–41 mm, beaks 9–20 mm, tubes 15–22 mm; leaves usually 0–3-lobed.
→ 2
2. Corollas 34–41 mm; herbs 1–2.5(–3.5) dm; 2100–2800 m; Crater Lake to Newberry Crater, Cascade Range, Oregon.
var. applegatei
2. Corollas 25–35 mm; herbs 1.2–6 dm; 300–3600 m; California to Oregon and Idaho.
var. pinetorum
1. Corollas 16–31 mm, beaks 6–14 mm, tubes 9–14 mm; leaves usually 3–5-lobed.
→ 3
3. Corolla beaks 6–10 mm; abaxial and adaxial calyx clefts (4–)5–8(–10) mm.
var. breweri
3. Corolla beaks 9–14 mm; abaxial and adaxial calyx clefts 7–14 mm.
var. viscida
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 582. FNA vol. 17, p. 587.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Castilleja Orobanchaceae > Castilleja
Sibling taxa
C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
Subordinate taxa
C. affinis var. affinis, C. affinis var. contentiosa, C. affinis var. neglecta
C. applegatei var. applegatei, C. applegatei var. breweri, C. applegatei var. pinetorum, C. applegatei var. viscida
Name authority Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 154. (1833) Fernald: Erythea 6: 49. (1898) — (as Castilleia)
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