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cock's-comb paintbrush, mountainside Indian paintbrush

alpine paintbrush, dwarf alpine Indian paintbrush, dwarf alpine paintbrush, dwarf paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, 0.4–1.7 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairy, sometimes glabrate proximally, hairs spreading to retrorse, medium length to long, soft, eglandular, often mixed distally with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.

few to several, ascending to decumbent-based, unbranched, hairs spreading, long, soft to stiff, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.

Leaves

green, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2–8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0–5-lobed, apex acute;

lateral lobes spreading, linear, apex acuminate.

green to deep purple, linear to narrowly lanceolate, (0.5–)1–2.5(–3.1) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to slightly involute, 3(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate;

lobes ascending-erect, linear to filiform, apex acute to obtuse.

Inflorescences

3–6(–11) × 1.5–6.5 cm;

bracts proximally greenish, distally red, red-orange, or orange, sometimes yellow or dull salmon, narrowly to broadly lanceolate or oblong, 3–5-lobed;

lobes ascending-spreading, linear-lanceolate, long, arising below mid length, central lobe apex rounded to obtuse, lateral ones acute.

15–20 × 1.5–3 cm;

bracts greenish or deep purplish throughout, or proximally greenish or deep purplish, distally white, pink, magenta, reddish purple, purple, or pale yellow, distal coloration often limited to apices and margins, broadly lanceolate or narrowly to broadly elliptic, 0–3(–7)-lobed;

lobes spreading, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, long, arising near mid length, apex acute or obtuse.

Corollas

straight, (25–)30–40(–45) mm;

tube 15–20 mm;

abaxial lip visible through front cleft, beak long-exserted from calyx;

beak adaxially green or yellow-green, 16–21 mm;

abaxial lip proximally white or yellow-green, distally green, reduced, usually visible in front cleft, 3 mm, 20% as long as beak;

teeth incurved to ascending, green, 1 mm.

straight, 10–16(–19) mm;

tube 8–13 mm, with patches of blackish coloration on either side of distal portion;

beak subequal to calyx or exserted, adaxially green, yellow, whitish, or pink, 3–5.5 mm, scarcely exceeding abaxial lip, margins brown or burgundy, sometimes pink;

abaxial lip pale yellow, white, green, or purple, inflated, pouched, 2–5 mm, 65–95% as long as beak;

teeth erect to slightly spreading, white, yellow, or pink, 0.5–2.1 mm.

Calyces

colored as bracts, (20–)25–35 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts (6–)10–17 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral (1–)3–6(–10) mm, 35% of calyx length;

lobes slender, triangular, apex acute.

green to purple, margins green, white, or pink, 10–19 mm;

abaxial, adaxial, and lateral clefts 3.5–7(–10) mm, 33–55% of calyx length, all 4 clefts subequal;

lobes linear, lanceolate-elliptic, or narrowly triangular, apex acute to rounded.

Stigmas

black.

2n

= 96.

= 24.

Castilleja crista-galli

Castilleja nana

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Rocky slopes, talus, ridges, dry to moist, open, conifer forests, montane meadows. Rocky or gravelly slopes, talus, ridges, fellfields, subalpine and alpine, often over granite.
Elevation 1500–2900 m. (4900–9500 ft.) 1900–4300 m. (6200–14100 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja crista-galli is found in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana and northwestern Wyoming. The extent of its distribution into adjacent Idaho is unresolved, in part because it is frequently confused with either C. linariifolia or C. miniata. Castilleja crista-galli appears to be morphologically intermediate between them, leading to speculation that it might be an allopolyploid derivative. A DNA study (S. Matthews and M. Lavin 1998) showed little support for a hybrid origin. Castilleja crista-galli may be separated with some difficulty from the other two species by the presence of at least some short hairs on the stems and the frequently three- to five-parted leaves. Castilleja linariifolia and C. miniata both usually have subglabrous stems and entire leaves, sometimes three-parted distally, near the inflorescence.

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

Castilleja nana is limited to high elevations in the Sierra Nevada of California and the Great Basin ranges in central Nevada and western Utah. Plants with pink to purple inflorescences were described as C. lapidicola. Localized hybrid swarms between C. nana and C. viscidula are known from several mountain ranges in central and northern Nevada. Castilleja nana is sometimes confused with higher elevation forms of C. pilosa but can usually be distinguished from that species by the blackish patches on the sides of the corolla tube. Divergent populations in the central Sierra Nevada and adjacent White Mountains deserve further study.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 599. FNA vol. 17, p. 633.
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. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, 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. 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
Synonyms C. lapidicola
Name authority Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 355. (1900) Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 3, 2: 289. (1902) — (as Castilleia)
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