The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links
Castilleja brevilobata

short-lobed paintbrush

Thompson's Indian paintbrush, Thompson's owl clover, Thompson's paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm; from a branched, woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, 0.8–4 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

solitary or few, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, short, medium, and long, soft, short and medium ones short stipitate-glandular.

few to many, erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, hairs spreading, long, stiff, sometimes soft (especially in higher elevations), eglandular, mixed with shorter 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 to purple or reddish brown, linear to narrowly oblong or linear-lanceolate, 1.4–7.4 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to ± wavy, involute or flat, 3(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate;

lobes spreading-ascending, linear, short to long moving up leaf axis, apex acute or obtuse.

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.

2.5–14 × 1–4 cm;

bracts greenish to pale yellow or reddish brown throughout, or proximally greenish to dull reddish purple, or ruddy brown, distally greenish to yellow-green or yellow, often aging dull reddish to dull purplish, lanceolate to oblong to ovate, 3–5(–9)-lobed;

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

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, 18–21 mm;

tube 11–16 mm; subequal to calyx, sometimes beak exserted;

beak adaxially green, 5–7(–8) mm;

abaxial lip white, often proximally reddish, prominent, scarcely expanded, ± cylindric, 2.5–4(–5) mm, 50–70% as long as beak, glabrous or obscurely puberulent;

teeth incurved to erect, white, 2.5 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, 12–25 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–8 mm, 20–60% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (0–)1–3 mm, 7–25% of calyx length;

lobes linear, lanceolate, or triangular, apex acute, sometimes obtuse.

2n

= 24.

= 24, 48.

Castilleja brevilobata

Castilleja thompsonii

Phenology Flowering Mar–Aug. Flowering Apr–Aug(–Sep).
Habitat Dry savannas, rocky slopes and open conifer forests, on serpentine. Dry slopes, ridges, scabland lithosol soils, meadows, sagebrush steppes, valleys, montane to alpine.
Elevation 200–1700 m. (700–5600 ft.) 200–2100 m. (700–6900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR; WA; BC
[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 thompsonii is a characteristic species of the sagebrush communities on the eastern slope of the Cascade Range in Washington, and in the high deserts of the Columbia Basin. Historically, its range approached but apparently never entered Idaho in the Spokane River valley, but much of its habitat in that area is now converted to agriculture or suburban development or overwhelmed by non-native, invasive plants. Castilleja thompsonii occurs in a few sites in the Okanogan Valley region of southern British Columbia and at one site on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range in Wasco County, Oregon. A distinctive form from the subalpine and alpine zones of Mt. Adams, in the southern Cascade Range of Washington, was named C. villicaulis. This form may merit varietal status under C. thompsonii. While both names were described in the same paper, C. thompsonii is the name used in all regional floras since their publication, after C. villicaulis was reduced to synonymy by M. Ownbey (1959).

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 591. FNA vol. 17, p. 661.
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. 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. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
Synonyms C. hispida subsp. brevilobata C. villicaulis
Name authority Piper: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 33: 104. (1920) Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 99: 178. (1947) — (as thompsoni)
Web links