Castilleja attenuata |
Castilleja wightii |
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attenuate Indian paintbrush, attenuate paintbrush, narrow-leaf owl's-clover, narrow-leaf owl-clover, narrow-leaf paintbrush, valley-tassels |
Wight's Indian paintbrush, Wight's paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, 1–4.5 dm; with fibrous roots. | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 3–8 dm; from a woody caudex; with woody, branching roots. |
Stems | solitary, erect to ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched from base, hairs spreading, short and medium, ± stiff, eglandular. |
few to many, ascending to erect, much-branched, usually with prominent leafy axillary shoots, hairs spreading, long, soft, mixed with shorter, stipitate-glandular ones. |
Leaves | green to purple-tinged, linear to linear-lanceolate, (1–)2–8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 0(–5)-lobed, apex acuminate; lobes spreading to ascending, filiform to lanceolate, apex sometimes acuminate. |
green-tinged or ± purple, sometimes yellow-green tinged, densely crowded, linear, lanceolate, oblong, elliptic, or ovate, 1–7 cm, thickened, not usually fleshy, margins plane to wavy, involute or flat, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex broadly rounded to obtuse or acute; lobes spreading-ascending, linear, narrowly lanceolate, triangular, or rounded, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded. |
Inflorescences | (1.5–)2–10(–19, –30 in fruit) × 1–2 cm; bracts proximally green to pale brown, rarely dull reddish brown, distally white on apices, sometimes pale yellow or pale pink-purplish on apices, rarely greenish or dull reddish brown throughout, lanceolate or lanceolate-elliptic, 3(–5)-lobed; lobes ascending, linear to lanceolate, long, arising below mid length, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse. |
3–22 × 1.5–3.5 cm; bracts proximally green to deep purple, rarely light tan, distally red, scarlet, rose, red-orange, or yellow, sometimes orange, dull brownish orange, pale pinkish tan, yellow aging white, yellow aging pink, red with pink apices, magenta, or white, sometimes with a yellow to deep purple medial band, lanceolate, oblong, or narrowly ovate, (0–)3–5(–7+)-lobed, distal margins of central lobe and sometimes also side lobes with multiple shallow teeth, proximal often wavy-margined; lobes erect or ascending, linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate, short, arising in distal 2/3, apex obtuse to acute, central lobe often rounded to truncate. |
Pedicels | 0 mm or nearly so. |
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Corollas | straight, 10–25 mm; tube 9–20 mm, not expanded distally; beak exserted, straight, adaxially white, light yellow, or greenish, 3–5 mm, inconspicuously puberulent; abaxial lip white or yellow with deep brown to purple spots, often becoming pink, slightly inflated, exserted or not, pouches 3, 2 mm wide, 1–1.5 mm deep, 3–4 mm, 75–80% as long as beak; teeth erect, white, pale yellow, or pink, 0.5–1.2 mm. |
slightly curved proximally, 20–30 mm; tube 10–12 mm; distal portion of beak exserted, abaxial lip included; beak adaxially green to yellow, 11.5–18 mm; abaxial lip deep green, sometimes to very deep purple, reduced, included, usually not visible through front cleft, 1–2 mm, 15–25% as long as beak; teeth erect, green to sometimes pink, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
Calyces | colored as bracts, (8–)15–23 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts (4–)6–8 mm, abaxial ca. 50% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 75% of calyx length, lateral 3–3.5 mm, 33% of calyx length; lobes linear to narrowly triangular, apex acute to acuminate. |
colored as bracts, 15–28 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 8–11 mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–5.5 mm, 5–30% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to oblong to broadly triangular, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded. |
Filaments | glabrous. |
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2n | = 24. |
= 24, 48. |
Castilleja attenuata |
Castilleja wightii |
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Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Aug(–Nov). |
Habitat | Grasslands, pastures, moist margins of springs and streams, damp rocky slopes. | Coastal scrub, damp thickets, stream banks, sea bluffs, canyon slopes, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–2100 m. (0–6900 ft.) | 0–700 m. (0–2300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; OR; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California); South America (Chile)
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CA
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Discussion | Castilleja attenuata is a common and widespread species, ranging from southwestern Canada to northern Baja California, with several disjunct populations in central Chile. It is sensitive to competition from weeds. Disjunct populations in the Rincon Mountains in Pima County, Arizona, often have pink bracts but are otherwise typical. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja wightii is found along or near the central and northern coast of California. Historical collections of C. wightii from Curry County, Oregon, are referable to other species, but it should be sought in the area. Reports from the south-central coast of California are referable to other species, particularly C. affinis. Castilleja wightii appears to intergrade with C. latifolia and perhaps C. affinis south of San Francisco. Despite much attention from botanists, the perennial paintbrushes along the coast between Monterey and San Francisco can be perplexing and difficult to identify. This situation is likely the result of introgression, but this complex is in need of meticulous genetic and morphological analysis. North of San Francisco, C. wightii is straightforward to recognize, with its abundantly stipitate-glandular stems and leaves. In addition, the leaves are often crowded on the stems, which bear axillary shoots. Most populations have either red or yellow bracts, with only occasional individual plants of the other color. Yellow populations are found primarily in Marin and southern Sonoma counties southward and are gradually replaced by red populations from northern Sonoma County northward. Mixed color populations occur in a few places, especially in San Mateo County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 590. | FNA vol. 17, p. 664. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Orthocarpus attenuatus | C. wightii subsp. rubra |
Name authority | (A. Gray) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 656. (1991) | Elmer: Bot. Gaz. 41: 322. (1906) — (as Castilleia) |
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