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painted-cup, red paintbrush, scarlet Indian paintbrush, scarlet paintbrush, scarlet painted-cup

hairy Indian paintbrush, tomentose paintbrush

Habit Herbs, annual or biennial, 1.2–5(–7) dm; with fibrous roots. Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 1.3–5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

solitary or few, erect to ascending, unbranched, rarely branched, hairs spreading, long, soft, eglandular, others shorter and glandular.

few to many, ascending to erect, unbranched or branched, with short, leafy axillary shoots, moderately lanate, hairs prostrate to spreading, whitish, unbranched, short, fairly soft, eglandular.

Leaves

green to sometimes brownish, rosette leaves persisting or withered at anthesis, oblanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 1–3 cm, usually 0-lobed;

cauline leaves linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 2–7(–8) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes wavy, involute, 3–7(–9)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate;

cauline leaves: lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblong, (2–)5–25 mm, apex acuminate.

green, linear to narrowly lanceolate, (0.8–)3–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, strongly involute, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex acute to rounded;

lobes spreading, linear, short, apex acute.

Inflorescences

2–35 (longest in fruit) × 1.5–6 cm;

bracts proximally greenish to brownish green, distally red, sometimes orange, yellow, or white, lanceolate to obovate, 3(–5)-lobed;

lobes spreading-ascending, lanceolate and longer on proximal bracts, becoming oblanceolate, shorter, and wider on distal bracts, arising from distal 3/4 of blade, apex acute to rounded.

5–20 × 0.5–2.5 cm;

bracts proximally dull brownish to deep greenish purple, distally red, red-orange, or orange, lanceolate or oblong to obovate, deeply 3(–5)-lobed;

lobes ascending, linear to lanceolate, long, arising below mid length, central lobe apex rounded to obtuse, others acute.

Corollas

straight, 18–31 mm;

tube 15–18 mm;

abaxial lip ± exserted, beak exserted, often whitish, yellowish, or faint dull reddish proximally, adaxially green distally, 7–10 mm;

abaxial lip green to yellowish, apex pink to yellow, reduced, ± protuberant, 1.5–4 mm, 20–33% as long as beak;

teeth erect, green or yellow, apices white, yellow, or pink, 2–4(–5) mm.

straight or slightly curved, 12–20 mm;

tube 13–15 mm;

beak exserted or ± equal to calyx, adaxially pale green, 8–11.5 mm;

abaxial lip green or red-violet, inconspicuous, slightly pouched, 1.5–2 mm, ca. 10–20% as long as beak;

teeth incurved, pink to pale yellow or deep green, 1 mm.

Calyces

colored as bracts, 17–23(–28) mm;

abaxial clefts 6–10 mm, adaxial 5–8 mm, clefts 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0–1 mm, 0–5% of calyx length;

lobes oblong to triangular, apex rounded to truncate, sometimes emarginate.

colored as bracts, (10–)13–19 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–8(–11) mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 5–7 mm, ca. 25% of calyx length;

lobes linear to lanceolate, apex acute.

2n

= 24, 46, 48.

Castilleja coccinea

Castilleja tomentosa

Phenology Flowering Jan–Sep. Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat Damp or wet meadows, roadsides, prairies, swamps, peatlands, ditches, thickets, dunes, jack pine flats, rocky forests, ledges, sandstone, limestone, or granite. Dry Chihuahuan grasslands.
Elevation 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) 1300–1700 m. (4300–5600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; MB; ON; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; Mexico (Sonora)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja coccinea usually has red bracts. Forms with white or yellow bracts have been named but are scattered across the range of the species. However, yellow-bracted forms become markedly more common in populations in the northern portion of the range, especially in the upper midwestern region. Populations of C. coccinea seem ephemeral, disappearing from one site after a few years and appearing in another. It is rare in much of the eastern portion of its range, and apparently is extirpated in Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

In the United States, Castilleja tomentosa is known from a number of recently discovered populations in and near the southern Animas Valley, Hidalgo County, where it is found in Bouteloua gracilis and Sporobolus airoides grasslands. All known populations are small, and this species should be considered globally endangered. The only recorded Mexican station was the type locality from 1851 near Mabibi in adjacent northern Sonora. A. Eastwood (1909) believed C. tomentosa was a synonym of C. integra, but that species has mostly entire bracts, while the bracts of C. tomentosa are deeply lobed; the two also have different patterns of coloration and pubescence. T. I. Chuang annotated the holotype sheet of C. tomentosa as C. lanata, but C. tomentosa calyces have fairly deep lateral lobes, unlike the emarginate to very shallowly notched lobes of C. lanata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 598. FNA vol. 17, p. 661.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Castilleja Orobanchaceae > Castilleja
Sibling taxa
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
Synonyms Bartsia coccinea, C. ludoviciana
Name authority (Linnaeus) Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 2: 775. (1825) — (as Castilleia) A. Gray: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 118. (1859)
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