Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja brevistyla |
|
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desert paintbrush |
short-style owl's-clover, shortstyle Indian paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, sometimes subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–3.5(–4.5) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, annual, (0.6–)1–4.3 dm; with fibrous roots. |
Stems | several to many, ascending to erect, often grayish, unbranched, rarely branched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary branches, hairs spreading-erect, long, stiff, eglandular, sometimes also with shorter, stipitate-glandular ones. |
solitary or few, erect, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, short and long, soft and stiff, eglandular. |
Leaves | gray-green, linear, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, sometimes broadly lanceolate, (1.5–)2.5–6(–7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes, apex acuminate to obtuse; lobes spreading, linear, apex acuminate. |
green to purplish, linear to linear-lanceolate, (0.8–)2–6(–8.7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 3–5-lobed, apex acuminate; lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, long, apex acuminate to rounded. |
Inflorescences | 2.5–15 (much longer in fruit) × 1.5–5.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish to dull purplish, distally bright red to scarlet or orange-red, rarely yellowish to dull orange or pink, narrowly to broadly linear or lanceolate, narrowly ovate, or oblong-lanceolate, (0–)3–7-lobed, rarely with secondary lobes; lobes spreading, linear to oblong, sometimes oblanceolate, often expanded near tip, long, proximal lobes arising below mid length, apex rounded or obtuse to sometimes acute. |
5–25 (longer in fruit) × 1–2 cm; bracts proximally greenish to dull reddish brown, distally pink, lavender, magenta, purple-red, or white on apices, narrowly lanceolate, (3–)5-lobed; lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate with slightly widened apices, medium length to long, arising near or below mid length, apex acute. |
Corollas | straight or ± curved, 18–35(–40) mm; tube 8–15 mm; beak short- or long-exserted, adaxially green to yellow-green, (9–)10–18 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, thickened, included to exserted, 2–3 mm, ca. 20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, deep green, 0.5–1 mm. |
straight, 15–30 mm; tube 14–23 mm, not expanded distally, majority of it exserted from calyx; beak straight, adaxially white or pink (drying purple), 4–6 mm, pubescent; abaxial lip ± inconspicuous, exserted, pouches 3, 2 mm wide, 1–1.5 mm deep, 3–5 mm, 50–70% as long as beak, white, yellow, or pink with large deep purple, red, or brown spot on each pouch at or extending below middle; teeth erect, white, yellow, or pink, 1–1.5 mm. |
Calyces | colored as bracts, sometimes with broad yellow band below colored lobe apices, (17–)20–27 mm; abaxial clefts 4–10 mm, adaxial 6–12 mm, abaxial ca. 30% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–4 mm, ca. 15% of calyx length; lobes oblong or ovate to narrowly triangular or lanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded. |
colored as bracts, sometimes proximally yellow, 15–20 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 7–9.5 mm, abaxial ca. 33% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 66% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 3–5.5 mm, 33% of calyx length; lobes ± linear, slender, all 4 similar, apex acute. |
Filaments | glabrous. |
|
2n | = 24, 48. |
= 48. |
Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja brevistyla |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Nov). | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Dry sagebrush slopes and flats, pinyon-juniper stands, blackbrush, open yellow pine forests. | Arid grasslands in hilly country, sagebrush or alkaline flats. |
Elevation | 500–3200 m. (1600–10500 ft.) | 50–1200 m. (200–3900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
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CA
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Discussion | Castilleja chromosa is sometimes confused with 3b. C. angustifolia var. dubia (see discussion there). Castilleja chromosa retains its distinctive morphology across its wide range and is a characteristic species of much of the southwestern United States. Where it overlaps with C. angustifolia, the two are distinguished by inflorescence color and width and by the lengths of the calyx, corolla, and corolla beak. In the broad region of their sympatry, there is little evidence of intergradation, except in a few sites in Elko County, Nevada, and in southern Wyoming. Throughout southern Idaho and northeastern Nevada the range of the two overlap with little or no intergradation. At high elevations in Montrose County, Colorado, C. chromosa has narrower leaves and a longer and silkier pubescence, especially in the inflorescence. Apparent hybrids between C. chromosa and C. flava var. rustica are known from Custer County, Idaho, and hybrids with C. linariifolia are known from Montrose County, Colorado. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja brevistyla is endemic to the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada and the southern reaches of the Inner South Coast Ranges, in Kern and adjacent counties. It often grows with other annuals, including C. attenuata, C. densiflora, and C. exserta. The similar C. attenuata has three-lobed bracts and leaves, while C. brevistyla has mostly five-lobed parts, and also differs in corolla structure and spotting. Hybrids between C. brevistyla and C. exserta are known from Kern County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 595. | FNA vol. 17, p. 591. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. ewanii, C. martini subsp. ewanii, C. martini var. ewanii | Orthocarpus brevistylus |
Name authority | A. Nelson: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 245. (1899) — (as Castilleia) | (Hoover) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 656. (1991) |
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