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

cock's-comb paintbrush, mountainside Indian paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; caudex woody; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm; from a 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 several, erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairy, sometimes glabrate proximally, hairs spreading to retrorse, medium length to long, soft, eglandular, often mixed distally 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, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2–8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0–5-lobed, apex acute;

lateral lobes spreading, linear, apex acuminate.

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.

3–6(–11) × 1.5–6.5 cm;

bracts proximally greenish, distally red, red-orange, or orange, sometimes yellow or dull salmon, narrowly to broadly lanceolate or oblong, 3–5-lobed;

lobes ascending-spreading, linear-lanceolate, long, arising below mid length, central lobe apex rounded to obtuse, lateral ones acute.

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, (25–)30–40(–45) mm;

tube 15–20 mm;

abaxial lip visible through front cleft, beak long-exserted from calyx;

beak adaxially green or yellow-green, 16–21 mm;

abaxial lip proximally white or yellow-green, distally green, reduced, usually visible in front cleft, 3 mm, 20% as long as beak;

teeth incurved to ascending, green, 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.

colored as bracts, (20–)25–35 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts (6–)10–17 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (1–)3–6(–10) mm, 35% of calyx length;

lobes slender, triangular, apex acute.

2n

= 48, 72, 96.

= 96.

Castilleja affinis

Castilleja crista-galli

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Rocky slopes, talus, ridges, dry to moist, open, conifer forests, montane meadows.
Elevation 1500–2900 m. (4900–9500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; MT; 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.)

Castilleja crista-galli is found in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana and northwestern Wyoming. The extent of its distribution into adjacent Idaho is unresolved, in part because it is frequently confused with either C. linariifolia or C. miniata. Castilleja crista-galli appears to be morphologically intermediate between them, leading to speculation that it might be an allopolyploid derivative. A DNA study (S. Matthews and M. Lavin 1998) showed little support for a hybrid origin. Castilleja crista-galli may be separated with some difficulty from the other two species by the presence of at least some short hairs on the stems and the frequently three- to five-parted leaves. Castilleja linariifolia and C. miniata both usually have subglabrous stems and entire leaves, sometimes three-parted distally, near the inflorescence.

(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
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 582. FNA vol. 17, p. 599.
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. 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. 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
Name authority Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 154. (1833) Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 355. (1900)
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