Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja flava |
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desert paintbrush |
rustic paintbrush, yellow Indian paintbrush, yellow paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, sometimes subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–3.5(–4.5) 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 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. |
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. |
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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. |
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. |
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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. |
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. |
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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 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. |
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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. |
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. |
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2n | = 24, 48. |
= 48. |
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Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja flava |
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Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Nov). | |||||
Habitat | Dry sagebrush slopes and flats, pinyon-juniper stands, blackbrush, open yellow pine forests. | |||||
Elevation | 500–3200 m. (1600–10500 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
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CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WY
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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.) |
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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 595. | FNA vol. 17, p. 607. | ||||
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | C. ewanii, C. martini subsp. ewanii, C. martini var. ewanii | |||||
Name authority | A. Nelson: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 245. (1899) — (as Castilleia) | S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 230. (1871) — (as Castilleia) | ||||
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