Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja rigida |
|
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desert paintbrush |
rigid Indian paintbrush, rigid 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 or subshrubs, perennial, 1.4–7.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a strongly woody taproot or branched, woody 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. |
few to many, erect to basally ascending, sometimes with subtle, curvy zigzags, unbranched, sometimes branched, proximally or with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs loosely spreading, long, soft, ± wavy, eglandular and shorter stipitate-glandular. |
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, linear-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, narrowly lanceolate, or narrowly oblanceolate, 2–5.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0-lobed, apex acute, distalmost obtuse 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. |
2–7.5 × 2–3.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally abruptly rose red, bright red, or red-orange, narrowly to broadly oblong-obovate to obovate or ovate-elliptic, 0-lobed; apex rounded to obtuse. |
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 slightly curved, (24–)28–36(–42) mm; tube 15–22 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green to yellow-green, (8–)10–14 mm; abaxial lip dark green, reduced, 0.5–1.5 mm, 7–12% as long as beak; teeth reduced, green to yellowish green, 0.5–1.5 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 with a yellow central band, 20–32(–36) mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts (5–)7–14 mm, ca. 40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0–0.5 mm, 0–7% of calyx length; lobes poorly developed, if present, rounded, apex rounded to truncate, sometimes emarginate. |
2n | = 24, 48. |
|
Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja rigida |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Nov). | Flowering Mar–Jul(–Nov). |
Habitat | Dry sagebrush slopes and flats, pinyon-juniper stands, blackbrush, open yellow pine forests. | Desert scrub, rocky slopes, ledges, ridges, flats, swales, roadsides, commonly with Agave lechuguilla. |
Elevation | 500–3200 m. (1600–10500 ft.) | 300–1500 m. (1000–4900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
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TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Zacatecas)
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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 rigida is endemic to desert scrub on limestone deposits in the Chihuahuan Desert region and the adjacent western edge of the Edwards Plateau. It is almost always closely associated with, and most likely parasitic on, Agave lechuguilla. The majority of its range is in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, east of the Sierra Madre Occidental, as well as in Coahuila and Nuevo León, where it is a characteristic component of the regional flora, but also extends into a few counties in southwestern Texas. It is sometimes confused with the similar species, C. nervata, which is widespread in the sierras of western Mexico and is known from a single extant population in the western Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Castilleja nervata and C. rigida are largely parapatric in Mexico. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 595. | FNA vol. 17, p. 651. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. ewanii, C. martini subsp. ewanii, C. martini var. ewanii | C. latebracteata |
Name authority | A. Nelson: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 245. (1899) — (as Castilleia) | Eastwood: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 44: 575. (1909) |
Web links |