Castilleja gracillima
Castilleja ornata
slender Indian paintbrush, slender paintbrush
glowing Indian paintbrush, ornate paintbrush
solitary, sometimes few, proximally creeping, becoming rhizomatous, erect to ascending distally, unbranched, sometimes branched, often glabrate proximally, hairy distally, hairs spreading, medium length and long, soft, mixed with much shorter stipitate-glandular ones near inflorescence.
solitary or few to several, erect or ascending, often branched low on stem, unbranched distally, hairs appressed or retrorse, medium length, soft, eglandular, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.
green to purplish, linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 1.2–7.1 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, slightly involute, 0-lobed, apex acute to acuminate.
green or purple-tinged, proximal forming a rosette, linear-lanceolate to oblong or oblanceolate, 2–4 cm, not fleshy, clasping, margins wavy, sometimes plane, involute, 0-lobed, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse.
4.5–18 × 1.5–6 cm;
bracts white, cream, pale yellow, pink, salmon, orange, or dull red throughout, or proximally greenish, distally as above, broadly lanceolate to oblong, 0–3(–5)-lobed;
lobes ascending to erect, lanceolate to triangular, often short, arising above mid length, apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes acute or acuminate.
3–24 × 1.5–3 cm;
bracts proximally green, distally white, sometimes very pale yellow, often aging dull pink or dull red-purple, spatulate, 0-lobed, sometimes seeming lobed due to wavy margins, apex obtuse to rounded.
± straight, 19–30 mm;
tube 11–19 mm;
beak exserted from calyx, adaxially green, 7.5–11 mm;
abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 1–2 mm, 20% as long as beak;
teeth incurved to erect, green, 0.5–1 mm.
slightly curved, 22–24 mm;
tube 10–13 mm;
beak exserted, adaxially green, 5–10 mm;
abaxial lip pale greenish, reduced, pouches 3, 0.5–1.5 mm, 5–10% as long as beak;
teeth slightly incurved, reduced, pale greenish to white, 0.3–0.7 mm.
colored as bracts, pigmentation often confined to lobes, 15–22 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 7–14 mm, 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–6.5 mm, 10–20% of calyx length;
lobes narrowly triangular to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute (to sometimes acuminate in Logan Valley).
green throughout or distal margin white aging pink, 15–17 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 6–14 mm, 35–45% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0(–0.7) mm, 0(–5)% of calyx length;
lobes short-triangular, abaxial segments longer than adaxials, apex acute to obtuse or rounded.
= 48.
= 24.
Castilleja gracillima
Castilleja ornata
Castilleja gracillima populations are centered around the Greater Yellowstone region, but its range extends sporadically west to central Oregon. It is sometimes confused with C. miniata, but differs from that species in its floral dimensions, mostly single-stemmed growth form, primarily white, yellow, or pinkish orange bract coloration, puberulent stems, and weakly rhizomatous habit. Where the two grow in the same general region, there is no clear evidence of hybridization; however, C. cusickii and C. gracillima form an extensive, sporadically intergrading population in the Logan Valley, Grant County, Oregon.
Plants attributed to this species from the Rocky Mountain trench near the head of the Columbia River in southeastern British Columbia or adjacent Alberta are a combination of several other species, especially Castilleja lutescens and C. miniata.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Castilleja ornata is known from Chihuahua and northern Durango, Mexico, but much of its seasonally moist grassland habitat is now altered by grazing or agriculture, and there are no recent sightings of the species south of the United States border. There is a recently discovered population in southwestern New Mexico, in the southern Animas Valley of Hidalgo County. While very rare, C. ornata lacks federal protection. The small Animas Valley population is the last known extant occurrence, and this population was reduced to two individuals in a census conducted in 2017 (D. Roth, pers. comm.). The species appears to be critically endangered globally and in need of conservation management.
The inflorescences of Castilleja ornata have pale greenish bracts with white apices when young, but the apices often become pale pink to dull reddish with age. Its pubescence, wavy-margined leaves, and unusual bract color also distinguish C. ornata. Castilleja exserta and C. minor are the only other annual paintbrushes in New Mexico and differ from C. ornata by the color of their floral bract apices, which are usually pink to red-purple in C. exserta and bright red in C. minor.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
