Castilleja litoralis
Castilleja septentrionalis
coast paintbrush, Oregon coast paintbrush, Pacific paintbrush
Labrador Indian paintbrush, northeastern paintbrush, northern or sulfur or yellow paintbrush, northern paintbrush, northern painted-cup, sulphur Indian paintbrush, sulphur paintbrush
few to many, usually decumbent proximally, becoming ascending-erect, sometimes ascending, branched, sometimes with small, leafy axillary shoots, glabrate or ± pubescent distally, hairs sparse to moderately dense, spreading to ± appressed, short, soft, sometimes mixed with short-glandular ones below inflorescence.
few to several, erect to ascending or ± decumbent at base, unbranched or branched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary shoots, glabrous or glabrate proximally, sometimes hairy, hairs spreading to retrorsely curved, short, ± stiff throughout, spreading, longer, soft to ± stiff distally, often glandular and short-glandular.
green, lanceolate to oblong or narrowly ovate, (0.5–)3–8 cm, sometimes thickened, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, flat to involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute to rounded;
lobes ascending or spreading, linear, narrowly lanceolate to oblong or triangular, short, apex acute to obtuse.
green to purplish, linear-lanceolate or narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 2–7(–8) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to involute, prominently veined, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acute to acuminate;
lobes ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, short, apex acute or obtuse.
2.5–21 × 3–5 cm;
bracts proximally green, distally bright red to crimson or orange-red, sometimes orange or pale yellow-orange, oblong to narrowly ovate or narrowly obovate, (0–)3–5-lobed, sometimes with a pair of small teeth;
lobes ascending, linear to oblong, medium length, arising in middle 1/3, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded or truncate, lateral ones ± acute.
2.1–11 × 1.5–4 cm;
bracts proximally greenish to pale yellow-green, sometimes brownish purple, distally white to cream or light yellow, sometimes light pink or buff, sometimes aging pink or reddish, broadly lanceolate to oblong or obovate, sometimes lanceolate, 0–3(–5)-lobed, sometimes with irregular teeth at apex;
lobes erect, triangular, short, arising at or above mid length, center lobe apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes acute, lateral ones acute.
0–6 mm.
straight or slightly curved, 23–38(–40) mm;
tube 10–20 mm;
abaxial lip often visible through front cleft, very rarely almost exserted, beak exserted;
beak adaxially green or yellowish, 10–16 mm, surface inconspicuously puberulent;
abaxial lip ascending, green, reduced, 1–2.5 mm, 10–20% as long as beak;
teeth erect or incurved, green or white, 1–2 mm.
± straight, (16–)18–30 mm;
tube 10–20 mm;
teeth of abaxial lip rarely exserted, beak exserted;
beak adaxially green or yellowish, 6–12 mm;
abaxial lip green or whitish, reduced, slightly inflated, 1.5–3 mm, 25–30% as long as beak;
teeth incurved to erect, green or white, 0.5–2 mm.
colored as bracts, 17–25(–30) mm;
abaxial and adaxial clefts (5–)7–15(–18) mm, 33–55% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–3(–5) mm, 5–10% of calyx length;
lobes broadly triangular to oblong, apex obtuse to acute or rounded.
colored as bracts, 13–23(–28) mm;
abaxial clefts (6–)8–13 mm, adaxial (5–)6–10(–11) mm, clefts (25–)35–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–4 mm, 5–25% of calyx length;
lobes triangular to lanceolate, abaxial and adaxial segments often differing in length or width, apex obtuse to acute.
= 120, 144.
= 24, 48, 96.
Castilleja litoralis
Castilleja septentrionalis
Castilleja litoralis never ranges more than one to two kilometers from the sea, from Humboldt County, California, north to Pacific County, Washington, near the mouth of the Columbia River. It is a high polyploid complex, possibly incorporating the genomes of several species, including C. affinis, C. miniata, and possibly C. hispida. The coastal C. miniata var. dixonii is very similar ecologically and morphologically but replaces C. litoralis from southwestern Washington to southern British Columbia. Compared to C. litoralis, C. miniata var. dixonii usually has somewhat longer corollas and corolla beaks, the latter with a more conspicuously puberulent surface and deeper lateral calyx clefts. Castilleja litoralis has been included as a subspecies of C. affinis by some (for example, M. Wetherwax et al. 2012), but the morphological resemblance to that species is far more tenuous than it is to C. miniata var. dixonii. Considering their very similar morphologies, along with the fact that both C. litoralis (2n = 120, 144) and C. miniata var. dixonii (2n = 96, 144) apparently combine multiple genomes, strongly suggest that they would best be treated as a single entity. Should they be combined at the species level following additional research, the name C. dixonii has priority.
Castilleja litoralis is often associated with salal, Gaultheria shallon, on which it is likely parasitic.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Castilleja septentrionalis is one of the most widespread species in the flora area. It occurs throughout much of the Rocky Mountain region, from New Mexico northward into southern Canada and sporadically eastward to the Atlantic coast, as well as in the higher mountains and notches of New England. Rocky Mountain plants are commonly called C. sulphurea, but there is broad morphological overlap between these plants and those in New England and eastern Canada, where C. septentrionalis was first described, and they are here considered synonymous. Varietal segregates may eventually prove to be appropriate, especially in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and in southeastern Canada and the adjacent United States, but this should await a comprehensive and detailed review across the full range of the species.
The relationship of Castilleja septentrionalis with the largely alpine species, C. occidentalis, has been the subject of much discussion, but the two have discrete ranges and usually remain reasonably easy to separate. The same cannot be said for plants from the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where some specimens in relatively low-elevation, riverine flood plains and lake basins seem transitional to the boreal-arctic C. pallida.
Castilleja septentrionalis occasionally forms localized hybrid swarms with its close relatives, C. miniata and C. rhexiifolia, where the morphological boundaries between the species seem to disintegrate. However, most populations of all three species are distinct and easily recognizable, and each has a different range, despite extensive sympatry. A possible hybrid with C. linariifolia bears the name C. ×cognata Greene, and a probable hybrid with C. miniata from southern Nevada is known as C. ×porterae Cockerell.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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