Castilleja cervina
Castilleja sessiliflora
deer Indian paintbrush, deer paintbrush
downy paintedcup, Great Plains Indian paintbrush
solitary or few to many, erect, branched distally, sometimes unbranched or with short, leafy branches in axils of leaves, glabrous, sometimes hairy, hairs moderately dense, spreading, short, soft, eglandular.
few to many, ascending to erect, often decumbent at base, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, sometimes matted, short to medium length, ± soft, eglandular, often with a layer of minute-glandular hairs, sometimes woolly.
green, sometimes purplish, linear or narrowly lanceolate, 1–9 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 3–5(–9)-lobed, apex acuminate to narrowly acute;
lobes spreading, linear, arising near or below mid length, apex acute, rarely obtuse.
green to purple, or grayish with dust and hairs, linear to narrowly lanceolate, (1–)2–5(–6) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, (0–)3–5-lobed, apex acuminate to acute;
lobes divergent, spreading, linear, apex acute.
3–15(–20) × 1.5–3 cm;
bracts proximally pale greenish to pale yellowish green, distally white, cream, or pale yellow, sometimes pale greenish, pale yellow-green, or pale yellow throughout, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 3–5(–7)-lobed;
lobes ascending or spreading, linear to very narrowly linear, long, arising above or below mid length, apex acute to obtuse.
3–18 × 2.5–6.5 cm;
bracts green to purplish throughout, sometimes reddish brown, pink, or lavender throughout, or distally white or pale yellow, sometimes distally dull pink, pink, salmon, orangish, pale pink-orange, buff, or cream, lanceolate, similar to distal leaves, 3(–5)-lobed;
lobes spreading, linear-lanceolate, long, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to acuminate, sometimes obtuse.
straight or ± curved, 16–25 mm;
tube 15–17 mm;
beak exserted from calyx, adaxially green, 5–7 mm;
abaxial lip deep green, reduced, exserted through abaxial cleft, 1–4 mm, 40–60% as long as beak;
teeth erect, white, 0.5–1 mm.
strongly curved distally, 35–55 mm;
tube 24–45 mm;
abaxial lip, beak, and distal portion of tube exserted;
beak adaxially green, yellow, pinkish, purplish, or whitish, 9–15 mm;
abaxial lip green, pale green, or purple, protruding, shelflike, 4–8 mm, 50–70% as long as beak;
teeth spreading, white, pale yellow, pink, or purple, 3–4 mm.
green, rarely pale purple, lobes white, cream, or pale yellow, 18–24(–27) mm;
abaxial clefts (6–)8–16 mm, adaxial 4–10(–14) mm, abaxial 45–60% of calyx length, adaxial 15–40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–4 mm, 5–15% of calyx length;
lobes narrowly triangular to linear, apex acute.
colored as bracts, sometimes proximally white, 20–40 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 12–20 mm, 40–60% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 5–15 mm, 10–25% of calyx length;
lobes linear, apex acute to acuminate.
= 24.
= 24.
Castilleja cervina
Castilleja sessiliflora
Castilleja cervina is found across northern Washington, from the eastern slope of the Cascade Range, east to northern Idaho and north to southern British Columbia. Plants at higher elevations are dwarfed. Reports from Montana need verification.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Castilleja sessiliflora ranges across the Great Plains from southern Canada to northern Mexico, where it is apparently rare. In Texas and northern Mexico, its range overlaps with the similar C. mexicana. Most populations of C. sessiliflora, especially north of Texas, have white to pale yellow inflorescences; in southwestern Texas they are more variable in color, with pink-purple plants often predominating locally. Those plants with pink-purple inflorescences were named forma purpurina by F. W. Pennell. In the limestone deserts of southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona, the inflorescences are often a pale pink-orange, but these are intermingled with more typical greenish white plants. Occasional hybrids between C. angustifolia var. dubia and C. sessiliflora are known from northeastern Wyoming.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
MN Wildflowers
MO Plants
