Castilleja lemmonii |
Castilleja occidentalis |
|
---|---|---|
Lemmon's Indian paintbrush, Lemmon's paintbrush |
western Indian paintbrush, western or western yellow paintbrush, western paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.8–2.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with slender, branching roots. | Herbs, perennial, 0.7–2(–3) dm; from a small, woody caudex; with a taproot. |
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. |
several to many, erect or ascending, usually short-decumbent at base, unbranched, sometimes glabrous proximally, hairs spreading, long, soft, mixed with medium length to short stipitate-glandular ones only in inflorescence. |
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 deep purple, linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate (to linear on sterile shoots), 1.5–4(–5.5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, prominently veined, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex acute to rounded; lobes ascending, lanceolate, apex acute. |
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. |
2–7(–10) × 1–3.5 cm; bracts greenish to pale greenish yellow throughout, often aging dull reddish brown or reddish purple proximally, rarely dull reddish brown throughout, or proximally green, dull reddish brown, or reddish purple, distally greenish white, yellow, or cream, broadly lanceolate to widely oblong to ovate, 0–3(–7)-lobed; lobes ascending, triangular to lanceolate, medium length, usually arising at or above mid length, rarely just below, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded, others 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, 16–25 mm; tube 9–15 mm; teeth and part of abaxial lip sometimes exserted, beak exserted; beak adaxially green, (2.5–)5–9 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, often visible through abaxial cleft, slightly pouched, 1.5–3 mm, 25–50% as long as beak; teeth incurved to ascending, white, sometimes green, 0.7–2 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. |
proximally green to purple, distally colored as bracts, 12–20 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–9(–10) mm, 40–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–3(–4.5) mm, 5–20% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to triangular, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded. |
Stigmas | greenish to deep bluish purple. |
|
2n | = 24. |
= 24, 48. |
Castilleja lemmonii |
Castilleja occidentalis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Sep. |
Habitat | Moist to wet meadows and flats, shorelines, open conifer forests, subalpine and alpine, often over granite. | Meadows, gravel slopes, talus, ridges, mostly upper subalpine to alpine. |
Elevation | 1500–3700 m. [4900–12100 ft.] | 1500–4300 m. [4900–14100 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; NV
|
CO; MT; NM; UT; AB; BC
|
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 occidentalis has a wide distribution in the southern Rocky Mountains, a gap in its distribution in Wyoming, and reappears in Montana and the Canadian Rockies. Bract lobing and color vary considerably but without correlation to geography. Although C. occidentalis resembles an alpine form of C. septentrionalis, C. occidentalis is missing in several regions in the distribution of the latter, even when extensive areas of suitable habitat are available, and has a discrete range. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 620. | FNA vol. 17, p. 635. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. culbertsonii | |
Name authority | A. Gray: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 2(1): 297. (1878) — (as Castilleia lemmoni) | Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 230. (1827) |
Web links |