Flora of North America species comparison

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Castilleja disticha

Castilleja hololeuca

wavyleaf Indian paintbrush

Channel Islands paintbrush, island paintbrush, island white-felted paintbrush, white-felted paintbrush
Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.4–8 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Shrubs or subshrubs, 3–10 dm; from a woody caudex; with thick, woody roots.
Stems

many, erect, unbranched or branched, sometimes with small, leafy axillary branches, hairs spreading, long, soft, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.

many, erect to spreading, much-branched with many short axillary shoots, proximal stems reaching 1+ cm wide, white-felted, hairs dense, spreading to ± appressed, intertwined, long, soft, slightly branched, obscuring surface.
Leaves

green or purple-tinged, lanceolate to linear-oblong, 0.8–6.1 cm, not fleshy, margins wavy, involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex rounded to acute;

lobes spreading-ascending, narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate.

ash gray, leaves of previous year persisting on proximal stem, linear, older leaves sometimes broadly linear, 1–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0-lobed, apex obtuse;

lobes ascending, linear-lanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes acute.
Inflorescences

3–34 × 1.5–3.5 cm;

flowers usually distichous, remote, except distalmost;

bracts proximally greenish, distally greenish, reddish, orange-red, or dull orange, rarely yellow, proximal bracts frequently greenish throughout, lanceolate to narrowly ovate or narrowly oblong-elliptic, 0(–3)-lobed, proximal wavy-margined;

lobes ascending, triangular, short, arising near apex, apex acute to obtuse.

3–16 × 2–4 cm;

bracts pale gray-green throughout, or proximally pale gray-green, distally red or yellow, proximal linear, distal broader, often oblanceolate to obovate, (0–)3-lobed;

lobes spreading, linear to oblong, short to long, arising below mid length, apex rounded to truncate or acute.
Corollas

± curved, 25–38 mm;

tube 14–18 mm;

beak and often abaxial lip exserted;

beak adaxially dull orange or dull red, rarely yellow, 14–19 mm;

abaxial lip slightly curved, green, red, whitish, or yellow, not inflated, 2–2.5 mm, 15% as long as beak;

teeth incurved, deep green to reddish, 1–1.5 mm.

slightly curved in proximal 1/3, 14–26(–31) mm;

tube 9–17 mm;

abaxial lip not exserted, beak exserted;

beak adaxially green to yellowish, 11–14 mm;

abaxial lip ascending, deep green, reduced, 2–3 mm, less than 33% as long as beak;

teeth reduced to apiculations, deep green, 1–1.5 mm.
Calyces

proximally whitish, green, or purple, distally colored as bracts, 9–18 mm;

abaxial clefts 6–6.5 mm, adaxial 7–9 mm, clefts 33+% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1.5–4 mm, ca. 10% of calyx length;

lobes linear-lanceolate, apex acute.

colored as bracts, with conspicuous whitish veins, 14–18(–20) mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–12 mm, 30–67% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0 mm or nearly so, ca. 0% of calyx length;

lobes linear-lanceolate, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate.
2n

= 24.

Castilleja disticha

Castilleja hololeuca
Phenology Flowering (May–)Jun–Aug(–Sep). Flowering Mar–Oct.
Habitat Open conifer forests, rocky or sandy slopes, montane to subalpine. Coastal sage scrub, chaparral slopes and flats, ledges, forest edges.
Elevation 1600–3000 m. (5200–9800 ft.) 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja disticha is limited to the central and southern Sierra Nevada. Although similar to C. applegatei and C. martini, C. disticha is distinctive and unique in its long, colorful, and highly exserted corollas with the beak exceeding the tube in length, calyces more brightly colored than the often unlobed bracts, and tall, strongly distichous growth form.

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

Castilleja hololeuca is endemic to the four major islands of the northern Channel Islands. It is similar to C. lanata, a mostly Mexican species that reaches Arizona, New Mexico, and southwest Texas. However, C. hololeuca appears to be more closely related to C. foliolosa, a species of the California mainland. These three species, and C. galehintoniae G. L. Nesom of Nuevo León, all share a distinctive, thick indument of pale, matted, and often branched hairs on the stems and leaves. Large individuals of C. hololeuca form thick, woody trunks. On Anacapa Island, closest to the mainland, red-flowered forms of C. hololeuca predominate. On Santa Cruz Island, to the west, both red- and yellow-bracted forms are fairly common, usually in separate populations. Further offshore, on San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands, most plants are yellow to, occasionally, peach in coloration. Reports of this species from Santa Barbara and Santa Catalina Islands are referable to other species, mostly C. foliolosa. Populations of C. hololeuca historically declined from grazing by introduced game and livestock species. The plants are recovering well, following removal of the grazing animals, and are now common in many areas, especially on San Miguel Island.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 603. FNA vol. 17, p. 614.
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. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, 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. 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
Synonyms C. applegatei subsp. disticha C. lanata subsp. hololeuca
Name authority Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 3, 2: 289. (1902) — (as Castilleia) Greene: W. Amer. Sci. 3: 3. (1886) — (as Castilleia)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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