Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja victoriae |
|
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desert paintbrush |
Victoria owl-clover, Victoria paintbrush, Victoria's owl's-clover, Victoria's owl-clover, Victoria's paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, sometimes subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–3.5(–4.5) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, annual, 0.2–2 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, erect, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, long, soft, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones. |
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. |
usually brownish throughout, sometimes greenish proximally, brownish distally, margins deep brown, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 0.5–2.7 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex acute; lobes spreading-ascending, linear to lanceolate, apex acute, obtuse, or 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. |
1–5 × 1.5–3 cm; bracts dull reddish brown throughout, or proximally dull greenish, distally dull reddish brown, narrowly ovate, 3–7-lobed; lobes ascending, lanceolate, medium length, arising near or above mid length, apex broadly acute or 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, 10–18 mm; tube 9–13 mm; abaxial lip and beak exserted; beak adaxially white, sometimes faintly diffuse purple, 3 mm, inconspicuously puberulent, hairs short stipitate-glandular; abaxial lip yellowish, cream, or soft pale yellow, lacking spots, moderately conspicuous, pouches 3, conspicuous, 1–3 mm deep, central one furrowed, conspicuous, 2–2.5 mm, 60–75% as long as beak; teeth erect, white or cream, 0.5–0.8 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, 8–12 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–6 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 3–4 mm, 30–40% of calyx length; lobes linear-lanceolate, apex acute. |
Stigmas | included in beak. |
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2n | = 24, 48. |
= 24. |
Castilleja chromosa |
Castilleja victoriae |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Nov). | Flowering (Apr–)May–Jul. |
Habitat | Dry sagebrush slopes and flats, pinyon-juniper stands, blackbrush, open yellow pine forests. | Vernal pools, springs, windswept, thin-soiled rocky knolls and benches by sea, gneiss. |
Elevation | 500–3200 m. (1600–10500 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
|
WA; BC |
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 victoriae was first collected in 1893 but not described until 2008. It is restricted to the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island, near Oak Bay, and to several small adjacent islands within a 30 km radius in British Columbia and Washington. Its primary habitat is small depressions and vernal pools on gentle gradients within 100 m of the sea, making it particularly vulnerable to development and recreational conflicts. Never common, several historic populations near Victoria were extirpated before the species was recognized. The majority of the global population is found on Trial Island. All known extant populations would be inundated by projected sea level increases and storm surges due to climate change. It should be considered globally endangered. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 595. | FNA vol. 17, p. 663. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling 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) | Fairbarns & J. M. Egger: Madroño 54: 335, figs. 1, 3 [lower right]. (2008) |
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