Castilleja cryptantha |
Castilleja lutescens |
|
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Mt. Rainier or obscure paintbrush, obscure Indian paintbrush, obscure paintbrush |
stiff yellow Indian paintbrush, stiff yellow paintbrush, yellow paintbrush, yellowish paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, (0.8–)1–1.9 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. |
Stems | few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, hairs spreading, long, soft, eglandular, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones. |
few to several, erect or ascending, sometimes decumbent at base, unbranched or branched, hairs spreading to retrorse, short, scabrid below inflorescence, sometimes becoming medium length to long, soft to stiff, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones in inflorescence. |
Leaves | 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, sometimes purplish, linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 1–8.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat or involute lengthwise, 0(–5)-lobed, apex acute; lobes ascending, linear, central one sometimes shallowly toothed, apex acute to obtuse. |
Inflorescences | (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. |
3–14 × 1.5–3 cm; bracts greenish throughout, or proximally greenish, distally pale to bright yellow or whitish, rarely pale orangish, lanceolate to oblong, (0–)3–7-lobed; lobes ascending to erect, linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, medium length, arising at or above mid length, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded, lateral ones acute. |
Corollas | 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. |
straight or slightly curved, 21–27 mm; tube 14–16 mm; beak partly exserted, adaxially green, 7–12 mm; abaxial lip ascending, green, reduced, 2–4 mm, 25–50% as long as beak; teeth erect or incurved, sometimes spreading, green or white, 0.7–2.5 mm. |
Calyces | 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. |
colored as bracts, 15–25 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 6–13 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–7 mm, 15% of calyx length; lobes narrowly triangular to linear, apex acute. |
2n | = 24. |
= 48, 96. |
Castilleja cryptantha |
Castilleja lutescens |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Aug. | Flowering May–Aug. |
Habitat | Mesic to moist flat subalpine meadows and turf, to tree line. | Grasslands, open conifer forests, moist meadows, rocky slopes, valleys, montane. |
Elevation | 1500–2000 m. (4900–6600 ft.) | 600–1900 m. (2000–6200 ft.) |
Distribution |
WA
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ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
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Discussion | 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.) |
Castilleja lutescens is found east of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington and ranges east to western Montana and the adjacent interior of western Canada. Its inflorescences vary in color from entirely greenish to white or yellowish, and the stature of the plants is also variable, trending from moderate and compact in grasslands to taller in more forested situations. In the Blue Mountains of Garfield County, Washington, occasional hybrids form between C. lutescens and C. hispida var. acuta, which often both occur in the same vicinity. L. R. Heckard (1968) reported a chromosome count of ca. 2n = 120 from a population in Montana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 600. | FNA vol. 17, p. 624. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. pallida var. lutescens | |
Name authority | Pennell & G. N. Jones: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 50: 208. (1937) | (Greenman) Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 359. (1900) |
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