Castilleja levisecta |
Castilleja lassenensis |
|
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golden Indian paintbrush, golden paintbrush |
Lassen paintbrush, Mt. Lassen paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 0.8–2.1 dm; from a woody caudex; with slender, branching roots. |
Stems | few to many, erect, ± decumbent or creeping at base, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs spreading, medium length and long, soft, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones. |
few to many, decumbent-based to erect, unbranched except for short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs sparse, spreading, long, soft, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones. |
Leaves | green to purple or brown-tinged, linear-lanceolate proximally, oblong-ovate or -obovate distally, 0.8–5.2 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, distalmost sometimes ± wavy, involute, 3–7(–11)-lobed, apex obtuse; lobes erect to ascending, linear to linear-spatulate, very short, toothlike, usually arising from distal 1/3 of blade, apex rounded. |
green to purple (sometimes different on stems of same plant), linear-lanceolate, 1–3.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute; lobes spreading-ascending, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, apex acute. |
Inflorescences | 2.5–25 × 1–4 cm; bracts bright yellow throughout, or proximally greenish, distally bright yellow, sometimes deep yellow-orange, especially with age, oblong, elliptic, or obtuse to ovate, (0–)5–9(–13)-lobed, sometimes wavy-margined; lobes erect to ascending, oblong, short to medium length, arising above mid length, central lobe apex rounded, lateral ones rounded to acute. |
2–4.5 × 1.5–2 cm; bracts proximally greenish to dull brownish purple, distally pink to magenta or reddish purple, ovate, broadly lanceolate, or oblong, (0–)3–5-lobed; lobes ascending to erect, lanceolate, medium length, arising near or above mid length, apex acute to rounded. |
Corollas | straight or slightly curved, 17–28 mm; tube 12–15 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green or greenish yellow, 6–8 mm; abaxial lip yellow or greenish, reduced, not inflated, 2–3 mm, 25–33(–50)% as long as beak; teeth ascending to erect, yellow, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
straight, 18–20 mm; tube 14–15 mm; abaxial lip sometimes partly exserted, beak usually exserted; beak adaxially white, 7–10 mm, margins white or pale salmon; abaxial lip pale green to yellow-green, inflated, pouches 3, shallow, central pouch shallowly grooved, visible through front cleft, 6–7 mm, 60–70% as long as beak; teeth erect, white, 1–2 mm. |
Calyces | distally yellow, 13–22 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 4–9.5 mm, 30–40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2.5–4.5 mm, ca. 25% of calyx length; lobes linear to narrowly oblong or narrowly lanceolate, apex obtuse, sometimes rounded to acute. |
proximally brown or dull magenta, sometimes green, distally colored as bracts, 11–19 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 9–10 mm, 55–60% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2.5–5 mm, 15–25% of calyx length; lobes oblong, apex rounded. |
Stigmas | pale green. |
|
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Castilleja levisecta |
Castilleja lassenensis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul(–Sep). | Flowering Jul–Sep. |
Habitat | Dry meadows, upland prairie remnants, sunny headlands and coastal bluffs, rocky islands, often over glacial outwash or deposits. | Moist to wet meadows, shorelines, subalpine, volcanic soils. |
Elevation | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) | 1500–2500 m. (4900–8200 ft.) |
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
|
CA |
Discussion | Castilleja levisecta is listed as threatened in the United States and endangered in Canada, where it is extremely rare. Most of its grassland habitat has been altered by development in the Puget Trough, and there are historical stations in the metro areas of what are now Victoria, Portland, and Seattle. For several decades, C. levisecta was considered extirpated from Oregon. However, recent reintroduction programs in Oregon and Washington have been very successful at reestablishing this species at several sites in the Willamette Valley. The bright yellow inflorescences often gradually age to a golden yellow color, unique in the genus. Castilleja levisecta is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja lassenensis is restricted to the Mt. Lassen area in Shasta and Tehama counties. See the discussion of 55. C. lemmonii for information on the relationship between these two species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 621. | FNA vol. 17, p. 619. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Greenman: Bot. Gaz. 25: 268. (1898) — (as Castilleia) | Eastwood: Leafl. W. Bot. 2: 244. (1940) |
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