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Lemmon's Indian paintbrush, Lemmon's paintbrush

short-style owl's-clover, shortstyle Indian paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 0.8–2.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with slender, branching roots. Herbs, annual, (0.6–)1–4.3 dm; with fibrous roots.
Stems

few to many, decumbent-based to erect, unbranched except for short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs sparse, spreading, medium length to long, soft and dense, short to medium length, stipitate-glandular.

solitary or few, erect, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, short and long, soft and stiff, eglandular.

Leaves

green or gray-green to purple (sometimes different on stems of same plant), linear-lanceolate, distal sometimes broadly lanceolate, 0.5–4 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate;

lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, rarely obtuse.

green to purplish, linear to linear-lanceolate, (0.8–)2–6(–8.7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 3–5-lobed, apex acuminate;

lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, long, apex acuminate to rounded.

Inflorescences

2–12 × 1–3 cm;

bracts greenish to dull purplish or brownish throughout, or proximally greenish to dull purplish, distally pink to purple or magenta, rarely white, ovate, broadly lanceolate, or oblong, (0–)3–5-lobed;

lobes ascending to erect, lanceolate, medium length, arising above mid length, apex acute to rounded.

5–25 (longer in fruit) × 1–2 cm;

bracts proximally greenish to dull reddish brown, distally pink, lavender, magenta, purple-red, or white on apices, narrowly lanceolate, (3–)5-lobed;

lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate with slightly widened apices, medium length to long, arising near or below mid length, apex acute.

Corollas

slightly curved, 16–21 mm;

tube 10–16 mm;

abaxial lip sometimes partly exserted, beak usually exserted;

beak adaxially green, 6–7 mm, margins red;

abaxial lip greenish, inflated, pouches 3, shallow, central pouch shallowly grooved, visible through front cleft, 3–4 mm, 60% as long as beak;

teeth erect, violet-purple or pink, 1–2.5 mm.

straight, 15–30 mm;

tube 14–23 mm, not expanded distally, majority of it exserted from calyx;

beak straight, adaxially white or pink (drying purple), 4–6 mm, pubescent;

abaxial lip ± inconspicuous, exserted, pouches 3, 2 mm wide, 1–1.5 mm deep, 3–5 mm, 50–70% as long as beak, white, yellow, or pink with large deep purple, red, or brown spot on each pouch at or extending below middle;

teeth erect, white, yellow, or pink, 1–1.5 mm.

Calyces

proximally brown or dull magenta, sometimes green, distally colored as bracts, 12.5–18 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 5.5–10.5 mm, 40–65% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–2 mm, 5–15% of calyx length;

lobes oblong, apex rounded.

colored as bracts, sometimes proximally yellow, 15–20 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 7–9.5 mm, abaxial ca. 33% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 66% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 3–5.5 mm, 33% of calyx length;

lobes ± linear, slender, all 4 similar, apex acute.

Stigmas

greenish to deep bluish purple.

Filaments

glabrous.

2n

= 24.

= 48.

Castilleja lemmonii

Castilleja brevistyla

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Moist to wet meadows and flats, shorelines, open conifer forests, subalpine and alpine, often over granite. Arid grasslands in hilly country, sagebrush or alkaline flats.
Elevation 1500–3700 m. [4900–12100 ft.] 50–1200 m. [160–3900 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

As delimited here, Castilleja lemmonii is endemic to the highlands of the Sierra Nevada in California and in adjacent Washoe County, Nevada. It differs from C. lassenensis, a plant of volcanic highlands around Mt. Lassen, which has consistently white corollas. Corollas are usually pink to purplish in C. lemmonii. Castilleja lemmonii also tends to have somewhat shorter lateral calyx clefts, though the two species overlap slightly in this character.

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

Castilleja brevistyla is endemic to the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada and the southern reaches of the Inner South Coast Ranges, in Kern and adjacent counties. It often grows with other annuals, including C. attenuata, C. densiflora, and C. exserta. The similar C. attenuata has three-lobed bracts and leaves, while C. brevistyla has mostly five-lobed parts, and also differs in corolla structure and spotting. Hybrids between C. brevistyla and C. exserta are known from Kern County.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 620. Treatment authors: J. Mark Egger, Peter F. Zika, Barbara L. Wilson, Richard E. Brainerd, Nick Otting. FNA vol. 17, p. 591. Treatment authors: J. Mark Egger, Peter F. Zika, Barbara L. Wilson, Richard E. Brainerd, Nick Otting.
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. 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. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, 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. 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. 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
Synonyms C. culbertsonii Orthocarpus brevistylus
Name authority A. Gray: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 2(1): 297. (1878) — (as Castilleia lemmoni) (Hoover) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 656. (1991)
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