Castilleja christii |
Castilleja flava |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christ's Indian paintbrush, John Christ's paintbrush |
rustic paintbrush, yellow Indian paintbrush, yellow paintbrush |
|||||
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1.4–3 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.5–5.5(–7.5) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | ||||
Stems | several, erect to ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, glabrous or hairs spreading, short and long, ± stiff, sometimes stipitate-glandular especially distally. |
several to many, erect or ascending, often grayish, unbranched or often branched distally, glabrate proximally or hairy, especially distally, rarely glabrous, hairs sparse, spreading to appressed, usually curly, ± short, soft, sometimes mixed with sparse, short stipitate-glandular ones. |
||||
Leaves | green, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, (1–)2–5(–6) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat or involute, (0–)3(–5)-lobed, apex acute to rounded; lobes erect or ascending, linear, lanceolate, or triangular, sometimes very small, apex acute to rounded. |
often grayish or purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblong, (1–)2.5–5(–6.7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane or wavy, involute, deeply (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate; lobes divaricate to spreading or ascending, linear, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to acuminate. |
||||
Inflorescences | 3–6 × 2–4 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally pale orange or pale yellow, sometimes red-orange, lanceolate or narrowly elliptic to ovate, sometimes obovate, 3–5-lobed; lobes ascending, linear, medium length to long, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to obtuse. |
3.5–20(–29) × 1–4 cm; bracts pale green to pale yellow throughout, or proximally pale green to pale yellow, distally pale yellow to bright yellow, sometimes light orange, light red, or bright red, lanceolate to narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic, slightly broader than leaves, usually 3–5-lobed; lobes ± spreading, linear or narrowly lanceolate, short or long, proximal or all bracts arising near or below mid length, apex acute, sometimes narrowly obtuse. |
||||
Corollas | straight, 20–30 mm; tube 12–19 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, 7–12 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, included or visible through cleft, 1.5–2 mm, 10–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, deep green, 1.5 mm. |
straight or ± curved, 13–30 mm; tube 12–16 mm; beak, sometimes abaxial lip, slightly to strongly exserted, corolla often curved and exserted through abaxial cleft; beak adaxially green, (5–)6–12 mm; abaxial lip green or yellow, reduced, exserted or more commonly visible in cleft in calyx, 1–3.5 mm, 20–33(–50)% as long as beak; teeth ascending, green to yellow, 0.5–2 mm. |
||||
Calyces | colored as bracts, 17–22(–24) mm; abaxial clefts 9–12(–13) mm, adaxial 7–11 mm, clefts 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–6.5(–8.5) mm, 20–50% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse. |
proximally green, sometimes purple or pinkish, distally yellow to light orange, dull green, or colored as bracts, 11–28 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–16(–17) mm, 30–60(–95)% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–7 mm, 4–30% of calyx length; lobes linear to lanceolate or narrowly to broadly triangular, apex acute to acuminate. |
||||
2n | = 48. |
|||||
Castilleja christii |
Castilleja flava |
|||||
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Jul. | |||||
Habitat | Gentle slopes, mostly northern aspect, in herbaceous or grassy subalpine to alpine meadows, sagebrush openings and swales, snowbank communities, over quartzite. | |||||
Elevation | 2100–2900 m. (6900–9500 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
ID
|
CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WY
|
||||
Discussion | Castilleja christii is endemic to subalpine meadows near the summit of Mt. Harrison in the Albion Mountains, Cassia County. Morphologically, it most closely resembles the widespread C. hispida var. acuta, but a recent molecular study (D. L. Clay et al. 2012) presents clear evidence for a homoploid hybrid origin for the species, incorporating portions of the genomes of C. linariifolia and C. miniata. This is the first documented case of homoploid origin in Castilleja. Castilleja christii is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Both varieties of Castilleja flava are characteristic plants of sagebrush-dominated communities throughout its wide range, from valleys to moderate elevations in the mountains, sometimes reaching the lower subalpine. The species almost always occurs in close association with shrubby species of Artemisia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 595. | FNA vol. 17, p. 607. | ||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | N. H. Holmgren: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100: 91, fig. 5. (1973) | S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 230. (1871) — (as Castilleia) | ||||
Web links |