Castilleja brevilobata |
Castilleja hololeuca |
|
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short-lobed paintbrush |
Channel Islands paintbrush, island paintbrush, island white-felted paintbrush, white-felted paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm; from a branched, woody caudex; with a taproot. | Shrubs or subshrubs, 3–10 dm; from a woody caudex; with thick, woody roots. |
Stems | solitary or few, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, short, medium, and long, soft, short and medium ones short stipitate-glandular. |
many, erect to spreading, much-branched with many short axillary shoots, proximal stems reaching 1+ cm wide, white-felted, hairs dense, spreading to ± appressed, intertwined, long, soft, slightly branched, obscuring surface. |
Leaves | green or ± yellow, lanceolate, elliptic, or oblong to narrowly ovate, 1–2(–2.5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane or wavy, involute, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, apex rounded to acute; lobes ascending to erect, linear to lanceolate, apex rounded to acute. |
ash gray, leaves of previous year persisting on proximal stem, linear, older leaves sometimes broadly linear, 1–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0-lobed, apex obtuse; lobes ascending, linear-lanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes acute. |
Inflorescences | 3–20 × 2–3.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish to dull brown, distally red, orange-red, or scarlet, sometimes orange or yellow, broadly lanceolate or oblong, (0–)3–5-lobed; lobes ascending, broadly to narrowly lanceolate, short, arising above mid length, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded. |
3–16 × 2–4 cm; bracts pale gray-green throughout, or proximally pale gray-green, distally red or yellow, proximal linear, distal broader, often oblanceolate to obovate, (0–)3-lobed; lobes spreading, linear to oblong, short to long, arising below mid length, apex rounded to truncate or acute. |
Corollas | straight, 15–24(–26) mm; tube 12–16 mm; beak exserted, abaxial lip equal to calyx; beak adaxially green or ± yellow-green, 7–10 mm, puberulent, stipitate-glandular; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, rounded, 1–2 mm, 10–25% as long as beak; teeth incurved to erect, light green, 0.5–1 mm. |
slightly curved in proximal 1/3, 14–26(–31) mm; tube 9–17 mm; abaxial lip not exserted, beak exserted; beak adaxially green to yellowish, 11–14 mm; abaxial lip ascending, deep green, reduced, 2–3 mm, less than 33% as long as beak; teeth reduced to apiculations, deep green, 1–1.5 mm. |
Calyces | green or whitish with green veins, lobes colored as bract lobes or paler, 14–30 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5.5–8.5 mm, 30–40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1.5–4 mm, 20–25% of calyx length; lobes oblong to narrowly triangular, apex obtuse to rounded. |
colored as bracts, with conspicuous whitish veins, 14–18(–20) mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–12 mm, 30–67% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0 mm or nearly so, ca. 0% of calyx length; lobes linear-lanceolate, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate. |
2n | = 24. |
|
Castilleja brevilobata |
Castilleja hololeuca |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Aug. | Flowering Mar–Oct. |
Habitat | Dry savannas, rocky slopes and open conifer forests, on serpentine. | Coastal sage scrub, chaparral slopes and flats, ledges, forest edges. |
Elevation | 200–1700 m. (700–5600 ft.) | 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR
|
CA
|
Discussion | Castilleja brevilobata is endemic to dry serpentine openings in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon and adjacent California. Although sometimes treated as part of C. applegatei or C. hispida, its morphology does not suggest a close connection with either. This species occasionally hybridizes with C. pruinosa in Del Norte County, California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja hololeuca is endemic to the four major islands of the northern Channel Islands. It is similar to C. lanata, a mostly Mexican species that reaches Arizona, New Mexico, and southwest Texas. However, C. hololeuca appears to be more closely related to C. foliolosa, a species of the California mainland. These three species, and C. galehintoniae G. L. Nesom of Nuevo León, all share a distinctive, thick indument of pale, matted, and often branched hairs on the stems and leaves. Large individuals of C. hololeuca form thick, woody trunks. On Anacapa Island, closest to the mainland, red-flowered forms of C. hololeuca predominate. On Santa Cruz Island, to the west, both red- and yellow-bracted forms are fairly common, usually in separate populations. Further offshore, on San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands, most plants are yellow to, occasionally, peach in coloration. Reports of this species from Santa Barbara and Santa Catalina Islands are referable to other species, mostly C. foliolosa. Populations of C. hololeuca historically declined from grazing by introduced game and livestock species. The plants are recovering well, following removal of the grazing animals, and are now common in many areas, especially on San Miguel Island. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 591. | FNA vol. 17, p. 614. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. hispida subsp. brevilobata | C. lanata subsp. hololeuca |
Name authority | Piper: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 33: 104. (1920) | Greene: W. Amer. Sci. 3: 3. (1886) — (as Castilleia) |
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