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Castilleja brevilobata

short-lobed paintbrush

cut-leaf owl's clover, cut-leaf paintbrush, cutleaf Indian paintbrush, foothill owl's clover

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm; from a branched, woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, annual, 0.5–4 dm; with fibrous 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.

solitary, erect, unbranched or branched, hairs spreading, long, soft, scattered among more numerous, medium length, stipitate-glandular ones.

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.

green or purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 0–5(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate;

lobes spreading to ascending, linear, apex acuminate to 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.

(1.5–)3–14 × 2–3 cm;

bracts green throughout, sometimes proximally green, distally white on apices, lanceolate to ovate, 3–7-lobed;

lobes spreading to ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, long, arising below mid length, apex obtuse to 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.

straight, 10–22 mm;

tube 8–15 mm;

abaxial lip and beak exserted;

beak adaxially yellow to greenish, 3–6 mm, densely puberulent;

abaxial lip yellow with purple dots at base, inflated, pouches 3, central pouch slightly 2-lobed, pouches 4–8 mm wide, 3–6 mm deep, side pouches curving up a little at tip, 2–5 mm, 75–95% as long as beak;

teeth erect, white or yellow, 0.5–2 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.

light green, lobes green, 7–13 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 3.5–8 mm, 50–67% of calyx length, lateral 2.5–5 mm, ca. 40% of calyx length;

lobes narrowly to broadly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate.

Stigmas

equal to or slightly exserted from beak.

2n

= 24.

= 22, 24.

Castilleja brevilobata

Castilleja lacera

Phenology Flowering Mar–Aug. Flowering (Mar–)Apr–Jul(–Aug).
Habitat Dry savannas, rocky slopes and open conifer forests, on serpentine. Grasslands, meadows, moist flats, vernal pool margins, moist forest openings, serpentine slopes and ledges, roadsides.
Elevation 200–1700 m. (700–5600 ft.) 0–2700 m. (0–8900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 lacera is found in a wide range of elevations in the central and northern Sierra Nevada region and in the Siskiyou Mountains region of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. Reports from the Coast Ranges north of the San Francisco Bay region and south of the Siskiyou region in western California are referable to other yellow-flowered annuals, including C. ambigua, C. rubicundula var. lithospermoides, Triphysaria eriantha subsp. eriantha, and T. versicolor subsp. faucibarbata. Although most similar to C. rubicundula, C. lacera is somewhat smaller in stature and flower size. It is also easily confused with yellow-flowered populations of C. tenuis, which has smaller flowers and an included stigma. Two chromosome numbers are known for this species, the more northern populations being diploid, and those to the south having an apparently aneuploid count of 2n = 22, which is unique in the genus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 591. FNA vol. 17, p. 617.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Castilleja Orobanchaceae > Castilleja
Sibling taxa
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, 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. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, 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
Synonyms C. hispida subsp. brevilobata Orthocarpus lacerus
Name authority Piper: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 33: 104. (1920) (Bentham) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 657. (1991)
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