Castilleja levisecta |
Castilleja praeterita |
|
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golden Indian paintbrush, golden paintbrush |
Salmon Creek Indian paintbrush, Salmon Creek paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, (1–)1.6–4.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. |
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. |
several to many, ascending to erect, ± decumbent at base, branched or unbranched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs spreading to ascending, long, soft to ± stiff, mixed with short-eglandular 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. |
purple or green, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 3–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, partly involute, 3–5-lobed, apex acuminate, acute, or rounded; lobes sometimes divergent, spreading-ascending, linear, apex obtuse to rounded. |
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. |
(2.5–)5–15 × 1.5–2 cm; bracts proximally green to dull purplish, distally pale reddish purple, dull red, pale salmon, pale orange, or bright to pale yellow, oblong, 3(–5)-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblanceolate, distal pair, if present, short and toothlike, short to long, arising at or above mid length, center lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral lobes obtuse 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, 11–16 mm; tube 10–13 mm; beak included or tip exserted; beak adaxially green, 4–5 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, with narrow pouches, 2.5–3 mm, 30–45% as long as beak; teeth reduced to minute apiculations, dark green, 0.5–1 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 usually whitish, distally colored as bracts, 13–18 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–6(–9) mm, ca. 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–1.2 mm, ca. 18% of calyx length; lobes ± hemispheric, segments often curved outwards, exposing corollas, apex rounded to obtuse, rarely acute. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Castilleja levisecta |
Castilleja praeterita |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul(–Sep). | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Dry meadows, upland prairie remnants, sunny headlands and coastal bluffs, rocky islands, often over glacial outwash or deposits. | Dry gravelly meadows and flats, with Artemisia rothrockii, often over granite. |
Elevation | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) | 2200–3400 m. (7200–11200 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 praeterita is endemic to subalpine, sagebrush-dominated meadows in the southeastern Sierra Nevada of Inyo and Tulare counties. It is closely associated with and likely parasitic on Artemisia rothrockii. Inflorescence coloration varies by population, with some having only yellow-bracted plants, while others are pale orange to pale red with occasional pale yellow variants. Yet other populations have only pale salmon-colored bracts. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 621. | FNA vol. 17, p. 646. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Greenman: Bot. Gaz. 25: 268. (1898) — (as Castilleia) | Heckard & Bacigalupi: Madroño 20: 209, fig. 1. (1970) |
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