Castilleja angustifolia |
Castilleja rhexiifolia |
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narrow-leaf paintbrush, northwestern Indian paintbrush, northwestern paintbrush, violet desert paintbrush |
alpine paintbrush, rhexia-leaf paintbrush, Rocky Mountain paintbrush, rosy paintbrush, split-leaf Indian paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.9–3.8(–4) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, (1–)2.5–6(–8) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | ||||||||
Stems | few to many, ascending to erect, branched, especially near base, sometimes unbranched, hairs sparse to dense, spreading to retrorse, long, sometimes short, soft to stiff, usually mixed with short-glandular ones, sometimes viscid. |
few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, proximally glabrous to glabrate, distally sparsely hairy, hairs spreading, ± long, soft, eglandular, sometimes stipitate-glandular. |
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Leaves | brown or purplish, sometimes green, linear to lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 1.2–7(–7.5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, involute or flat, (0–)3–5-lobed, rarely with secondary lobes, apex acuminate to rounded; lobes spreading, oblong or lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, apex acute to rounded. |
green or purple-tinged, linear, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, oblong, or ovate, 3–6(–7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to slightly involute, prominently veined, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute to rarely obtuse; lobes ascending or spreading, linear to filiform, much smaller than mid blade, short, apex acute. |
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Inflorescences | 2.5–20 × 1.5–5 cm; bracts proximally greenish or dull purplish, distally pink, magenta, pink-purple, reddish pink, pale yellow, pale yellow-orange, pale orange, or white, rarely reddish or orange-red, lanceolate to oblong, 3–5(–9)-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes; lobes spreading or ascending, oblanceolate or linear, proximal lobes often much longer than distal, proximal lobes arising below or a little above mid length, apex acute to rounded. |
2.5–15 × 1.5–4.5 cm; bracts pink-purple, red-purple, purple, or crimson throughout, rarely reddish, yellowish, or white throughout, or proximally greenish, dull brownish purple, or deep purple, distally colored as above, broadly lanceolate to ovate or obovate, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed; lobes ascending to erect, linear or lanceolate-acuminate, short, arising near or above mid length, central lobe apex obtuse to broadly rounded, lateral ones acute to sometimes rounded. |
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Corollas | straight, 18–27(–32) mm; tube 8–17 mm; beak usually long-exserted, adaxially green or pink, 8–15 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, inconspicuous, 1–2.5 mm, 5–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved to ascending, deep green, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
straight, 15–30(–36) mm; tube (11–)12–22(–24) mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, yellow, or tinged with red, 7–12 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 1.5–3.5 mm, to 33% as long as beak; teeth incurved, green or white, 0.5–2 mm. |
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Calyces | proximally green, yellow, brown, or purple, lobes colored as bract lobes, sometimes with a yellow band between proximal and distal parts, 13–25(–28) mm; abaxial clefts 3–8 mm, adaxial 5–9(–12) mm, clefts 30–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (1–)1.5–4(–5) mm, 10–25% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to oblong, abaxials wider than adaxials, apex acute to rounded. |
proximally green, purplish, or whitish, distally colored as bracts, 15–25 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 8–12(–15) mm, 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–5(–8) mm, 15–25(–30)% of calyx length; lobes oblong to triangular or ovate, apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes acute. |
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2n | = 24, 48, 96. |
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Castilleja angustifolia |
Castilleja rhexiifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering (Mar–)May–Sep. | |||||||||
Habitat | Moist meadows, open forests, slopes and ridges, sun or shade, subalpine to alpine. | |||||||||
Elevation | 1800–4000 m. (5900–13100 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; UT; WY
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CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Much confusion exists concerning Castilleja angustifolia and the closely related C. chromosa. Sometimes C. chromosa is treated as a variety of C. angustifolia, using the name C. angustifolia var. dubia. The latter name is used here to represent a different assemblage of plants, not including C. chromosa. At other times, C. chromosa is synonymized completely under C. angustifolia. However, the two species are in most cases easily separable, and where they are sympatric there is little evidence of intergradation. Both C. angustifolia var. dubia and C. chromosa are accepted here. See additional comments under 3b. C. angustifolia var. dubia and 15. C. chromosa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja rhexiifolia is a characteristic and common paintbrush in the Rocky Mountains region, from central Alberta to northern New Mexico. Disjunct populations also occur in northeastern Oregon, in the Blue, Ochoco, and Wallowa mountains, as well as near the summit of Abercrombie Mountain in the Selkirk Mountains of northeastern Washington. The inflorescence colors are variable. Typical plants are red-purple. However, many other shades of pink-white, pink-purple, and crimson are common as well. Many populations contain a wide range of color variants. Intergradation is occasionally seen with C. miniata, C. occidentalis, and C. septentrionalis. However, for the most part, these four species remain distinct, and their ranges are not entirely overlapping. In the Wallowa Mountains, a recurrent and variable hybrid form between C. chrysantha and C. rhexiifolia was described as C. wallowensis Pennell. In the north Cascade Range of Washington, plants of C. elmeri with crimson inflorescences are sometimes identified as C. rhexiifolia. In Glacier National Park, Montana, in the vicinity of Logan Pass, C. rhexiifolia frequently hybridizes with C. occidentalis, creating a number of hybrid morphologies. Both of the parents are common in the area. Similar hybrids are also found in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 586. | FNA vol. 17, p. 651. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | ||||||||
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Synonyms | Euchroma angustifolia | C. oregonensis | ||||||||
Name authority | (Nuttall) G. Don: Gen. Hist. 4: 616. 1837/1838 | Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 356. (1900) — (as rhexifolia) | ||||||||
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