Castilleja disticha |
Castilleja nivea |
|
---|---|---|
wavyleaf Indian paintbrush |
snow Indian paintbrush, snow paintbrush, snowy paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1.4–8 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1.6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. |
Stems | many, erect, unbranched or branched, sometimes with small, leafy axillary branches, hairs spreading, long, soft, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones. |
few to several, erect to ascending, decumbent at base, unbranched except for small, leafy axillary shoots, hairs weakly spreading to appressed, ± matted, especially distally on stem, fairly short and sparse proximally, longer and denser distally, soft, eglandular, becoming woolly, often 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. |
gray with hairs, surface green to purple, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–3.8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, involute, 0–3-lobed, apex acute; lobes ascending-spreading, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse. |
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. |
2.5–6 × 1–2.5 cm; bracts greenish to pale yellow-green or very pale, dull purplish throughout, lanceolate to oblong, (0–)3(–5)-lobed; lobes usually ascending, linear, medium length to long, arising near mid length, apex 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. |
straight, 18–25 mm; tube 3.5–5.5 mm; subequal to calyx, or beak and sometimes abaxial lip exserted; beak adaxially yellow, 6–8 mm, hairs moderately long, matted on midline, very short-glandular on sides; abaxial lip green, inconspicuous, slightly pouched, 3.5–5.5 mm, 60–90% as long as beak; teeth erect, white or yellow, 0.5–3 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. |
yellow, color mostly obscured by whitish hairs, 15–22 mm; abaxial, adaxial, and lateral clefts (5.5–)7–12 mm, 35–55% of calyx length, often appearing shorter because matted hairs stitch proximal part of clefts shut, all 4 clefts subequal; lobes broadly linear, apex acute. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Castilleja disticha |
Castilleja nivea |
|
Phenology | Flowering (May–)Jun–Aug(–Sep). | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Open conifer forests, rocky or sandy slopes, montane to subalpine. | Gravelly slopes and flats, turf and fellfields, mostly alpine. |
Elevation | 1600–3000 m. (5200–9800 ft.) | 1700–3600 m. (5600–11800 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA
|
MT; WY
|
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 nivea is endemic to alpine habitats in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming and adjacent Montana. It forms occasional hybrids with C. pulchella, which often shares its habitat, as on the Beartooth Plateau in northwestern Wyoming. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 603. | FNA vol. 17, p. 634. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. applegatei subsp. disticha | |
Name authority | Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 3, 2: 289. (1902) — (as Castilleia) | Pennell & Ownbey: Notul. Nat. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 227: 2. (1950) |
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