Castilleja lineata
Castilleja aquariensis
linear-lobed paintbrush, lineated paintbrush, marsh-meadow Indian paintbrush
Aquarius paintbrush, Aquarius Plateau Indian paintbrush, Aquarius Plateau paintbrush
few to many, erect or strongly ascending, unbranched except for small, leafy axillary shoots, hairs spreading-reflexed to ± appressed, matted, long, soft, with much shorter stipitate-glandular ones, white-woolly.
few to several, ascending to erect, unbranched, hairs moderately dense, often retrorse, short, ± stiff, stipitate-glandular distally only in inflorescence.
green, linear to narrowly oblong or narrowly lanceolate, 1.3–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes wavy, involute, 3–7-lobed, apex acute;
lobes divergent, spreading-ascending, linear, apex acute to acuminate.
appressed-ascending, green to purplish, linear to narrowly lanceolate, distal sometimes broadly lanceolate, (1–)2.5–4(–5.5) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0(–5)-lobed, apex rounded to acuminate;
lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute.
5–22 × 1–4.5 cm;
bracts green to yellow-green throughout, or proximally green to yellow-green, distally yellow to sometimes pale yellow-orange, narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblong or broadly lanceolate, 3(–7)-lobed;
lobes ascending to spreading, linear to oblong, medium length to long, arising near or below mid length, central lobe apex rounded to obtuse, lateral ones acute.
2–7 × 1.5–2 cm;
bracts proximally pale green to pale yellow-green, distally pale to bright yellow or cream, rarely pale orange, elliptic, narrowly ovate, elliptic-oblong, broadly lanceolate, or ovate, (0–)3(–5)-lobed;
lobes ascending or spreading, narrowly lanceolate, short, arising near tip on distal bracts, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones acute to rounded.
straight or slightly curved, 14–22 mm;
tube 7–14 mm;
beak tip barely exserted from calyx;
beak adaxially greenish, 4–7 mm;
abaxial lip green to yellow, reduced, 1–4 mm, usually less than 67% as long as beak;
teeth erect, white to yellow, 1–2.5 mm.
straight, 17–25 mm;
tube 9–13 mm;
beak exserted, adaxially green, 6–8(–12) mm, margins red or reddish brown, short-hairy;
abaxial lip green, reduced, sometimes exserted, 1.5–2 mm, 10–15% as long as beak, glabrous;
teeth erect, green, 0.5–1.5 mm.
colored as bracts, 15–20 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts 5.5–8 mm, 30–50% of calyx length, ± deeper than laterals, sometimes appearing subequal in pressed specimens, lateral 5–6 mm, ca. 33% of calyx length;
lobes linear to narrowly lanceolate, sometimes expanded towards apices, apex acute.
proximally green to yellowish, distal 1/2 yellow, (16–)18–25 mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts (8–)9.5–12.5 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–5(–6) mm, 5–20% of calyx length;
lobes lanceolate to ovate, apex acute to obtuse.
= 24.
Castilleja lineata
Castilleja aquariensis
Castilleja lineata is restricted to the mountains of northeastern Arizona, southern Colorado, and northwestern New Mexico. It is uncommon throughout its range and is without apparent close relatives. The Navajo used C. lineata as a medicinal plant and for its sweet nectar (D. E. Moerman 1998).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Castilleja aquariensis is endemic to the Aquarius Plateau in the mountains of south-central Utah. Its meadow habitats were severely degraded by livestock grazing, and at one time the species was a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act of the United States. It is still a species of management concern.
Castilleja aquariensis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
