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

entire-leaf paintbrush, foothill paintbrush, Southwestern paintbrush, squawfeather, wholeleaf Indian paintbrush, wholeleaf paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; caudex woody; with a taproot. Herbs, sometimes subshrubs, perennial, 0.9–5(–10) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot or stout, branched roots.
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.

solitary or few to several, erect to ascending, less commonly bent at base, unbranched, sometimes branched distally, hairs spreading to appressed, fairly short, soft and moderately dense, matted, unbranched, not quite obscuring surface.

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, linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, (1–)2–7(–9) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, involute, 0-lobed distally, sometimes 3-lobed, apex acute to acuminate, sometimes 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(–15) × 1.5–4 cm;

bracts red to red-orange or orange throughout, sometimes crimson, cerise, pale salmon, or pale yellow throughout, or proximally pale green to straw colored, distally colored as above, proximal sometimes narrowly lanceolate, others elliptic to narrowly elliptic, oblong, obovate, or oblanceolate, 0–3(–5)-lobed;

lobes ascending, lanceolate, short, arising at or above mid length, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded, 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 or slightly curved, (21–)25–45(–50) mm;

tube 17–30(–33) mm;

beak subequal to calyx or strongly exserted, adaxially green, (8–)10–17(–18) mm;

abaxial lip deep green, reduced, usually visible in front cleft, 1–2.8 mm, 20% as long as beak;

teeth incurved, green or yellow, 0.5–1.5 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, (18–)21–35(–38) mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts (6–)9–16(–18) mm, 25–33% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (2–)4–14(–16) mm, 10–15% of calyx length;

lobes lanceolate or triangular, apex acute to rounded.

2n

= 48, 72, 96.

= 24, 48.

Castilleja affinis

Castilleja integra

Phenology Flowering (Jan–)Mar–Oct.
Habitat Dry rocky slopes and flats, grasslands, open forests, ledges, road banks, valleys, subalpine.
Elevation (600–)1000–3300 m. ((2000–)3300–10800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sonora)
[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 integra is widespread and common in the southwestern United States. It is important to Native Americans for dyes, ceremonies, as a food preservative, and as a medicine. It is sometimes confused with C. lanata or C. miniata but has a distinctive combination of entire, narrow, strongly involute leaves, soft-tomentose pubescence of unbranched hairs, and usually entire bracts, sometimes with one pair of short lobes from the middle. The leaf margins of C. integra are usually plane, but some populations in the Chisos Mountains of Texas are wavy margined. These plants are on the higher slopes of the Chisos Mountains in montane thorn-oak vegetation, and they are also often taller and have longer, more frequently lobed leaves. These variant populations have been called C. elongata, and they deserve further study. Castilleja integra is typically a species of dry grasslands and open forests at moderate elevations. Occasional hybrids with C. linariifolia are known from Montrose County, Colorado.

The Castilleja elongata form of C. integra is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(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. 615.
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. 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. 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
Synonyms C. elongata, C. gloriosa, C. integra var. gloriosa
Name authority Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 154. (1833) A. Gray: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 119. (1859)
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