Castilleja cryptantha
Castilleja lemmonii
Mt. Rainier or obscure paintbrush, obscure Indian paintbrush, obscure paintbrush
Lemmon's Indian paintbrush, Lemmon's paintbrush
few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, hairs spreading, long, soft, eglandular, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones.
few to many, decumbent-based to erect, unbranched except for short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs sparse, spreading, medium length to long, soft and dense, short to medium length, stipitate-glandular.
green, often with brown or purple veins, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 1.5–4 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, ± involute, 0–3-lobed, apex acute to acuminate;
lobes spreading-ascending, narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to ± obtuse.
green or gray-green to purple (sometimes different on stems of same plant), linear-lanceolate, distal sometimes broadly lanceolate, 0.5–4 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate;
lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, rarely obtuse.
(2.5–)3–6 × 1–2 cm; green to dull brown or dull reddish purple throughout, or proximally green to dull brown or dull reddish purple, distally yellow on apices, broadly lanceolate to ovate, (0–)3-lobed;
lobes ascending, narrowly lanceolate, long or short, arising near mid length, apex acute or acuminate.
2–12 × 1–3 cm;
bracts greenish to dull purplish or brownish throughout, or proximally greenish to dull purplish, distally pink to purple or magenta, rarely white, ovate, broadly lanceolate, or oblong, (0–)3–5-lobed;
lobes ascending to erect, lanceolate, medium length, arising above mid length, apex acute to rounded.
straight, 14–16 mm;
tube 11–14 mm;
whole corolla included within calyx;
beak adaxially pale yellow, 1–2 mm;
abaxial lip deep green, slightly inflated, 4–5 mm, 67% as long as beak;
teeth ascending, pale, 1.5–2 mm.
slightly curved, 16–21 mm;
tube 10–16 mm;
abaxial lip sometimes partly exserted, beak usually exserted;
beak adaxially green, 6–7 mm, margins red;
abaxial lip greenish, inflated, pouches 3, shallow, central pouch shallowly grooved, visible through front cleft, 3–4 mm, 60% as long as beak;
teeth erect, violet-purple or pink, 1–2.5 mm.
proximally green or pale with green veins, lobes yellow, sometimes becoming deep red with age, 12–15 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 3–7 mm, 25–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–3(–4) mm, 8–20% of calyx length;
lobes triangular, adaxial segments longer than abaxials, apex acute or obtuse.
proximally brown or dull magenta, sometimes green, distally colored as bracts, 12.5–18 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 5.5–10.5 mm, 40–65% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–2 mm, 5–15% of calyx length;
lobes oblong, apex rounded.
greenish to deep bluish purple.
= 24.
= 24.
Castilleja cryptantha
Castilleja lemmonii
Castilleja cryptantha is endemic to the vicinity of Mt. Rainier in the Cascade Range, with most populations found within Mt. Rainier National Park. Unlike most species of Castilleja, it is apparently self-pollinating (W. J. Duffield 1972); the small flowers are entirely enclosed within the yellowish calyces, which tend to grow deep reddish as they age. The purplish brown bracts are also unusual in the genus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
As delimited here, Castilleja lemmonii is endemic to the highlands of the Sierra Nevada in California and in adjacent Washoe County, Nevada. It differs from C. lassenensis, a plant of volcanic highlands around Mt. Lassen, which has consistently white corollas. Corollas are usually pink to purplish in C. lemmonii. Castilleja lemmonii also tends to have somewhat shorter lateral calyx clefts, though the two species overlap slightly in this character.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
