Castilleja cryptantha |
Castilleja salsuginosa |
|
---|---|---|
Mt. Rainier or obscure paintbrush, obscure Indian paintbrush, obscure paintbrush |
Monte Neva Indian paintbrush, Monte Neva paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, (0.8–)1–1.9 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, (0.5–)0.8–1.4(–1.8) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot with yellow root hairs. |
Stems | few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, hairs spreading, long, soft, eglandular, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones. |
several, erect, usually decumbent at base, unbranched, sometimes branched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs spreading, short, rather stiff, some glandular. |
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. |
purplish brown with a grayish cast (due to adhering soil particles and salt crystals), linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–2.5(–3) cm, fleshy, margins plane, sometimes wavy, involute, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex acute; lobes spreading, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex 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. |
3–10 × 1.5–5 cm; bracts proximally purplish, deep burgundy, lavender, dull reddish, or deep purple, distally greenish, white, cream, or pink on margins and apices, oblong, 3(–5)-lobed; lobes ascending, ± linear, medium length, arising above mid length, central lobe apex rounded to obtuse, expanded distally, 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, 18–22(–24) mm; tube 13–18 mm; beak, sometimes abaxial lip, exserted; beak adaxially purplish brown, 4.5–6.5 mm, conspicuously exceeding abaxial lip, margins reddish or colored as bracts, apices white or cream; abaxial lip reddish purple with green in a distal band or along grooves, gradually inflated, grooved, (2–)3–4(–4.5) mm, 67% as long as beak; teeth erect to slightly spreading, white to cream, often with purple spot, 1.4–2(–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. |
proximally whitish, distally purple to sometimes pink, margins white or cream, 16–20 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–8.5 mm, 20–45% of calyx length, all 4 clefts subequal; lobes linear or narrowly lanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded. |
Stigmas | blackish. |
|
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Castilleja cryptantha |
Castilleja salsuginosa |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Mesic to moist flat subalpine meadows and turf, to tree line. | Damp alkaline clay, hummocks, sparsely vegetated stream banks draining hot springs. |
Elevation | 1500–2000 m. (4900–6600 ft.) | 1800–2000 m. (5900–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
WA
|
NV |
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 salsuginosa is endemic to a single site in White Pine County, where it is limited to the harsh alkaline soils of travertine hot springs. This population is threatened by habitat degradation from livestock, as well as by water developments affecting the hydrology of the hot spring system. Castilleja salsuginosa is closely related to C. nana and C. pilosa, but genetic studies of the trio are inconclusive so far. Two populations of very similar but slightly smaller-flowered plants occur around other hot springs in adjacent Eureka County. While they resemble C. salsuginosa superficially, recent morphometric studies of one of these populations indicate that they may be worthy of nomenclatural recognition, separate from C. salsuginosa. Castilleja salsuginosa is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 600. | FNA vol. 17, p. 654. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Pennell & G. N. Jones: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 50: 208. (1937) | N. H. Holmgren: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100: 83, fig. 1. (1973) |
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