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stiff yellow Indian paintbrush, stiff yellow paintbrush, yellow paintbrush, yellowish paintbrush

pale owl-clover, thin-lobed owl's clover

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, annual, 1.5–4.5 dm; with fibrous roots.
Stems

few to several, erect or ascending, sometimes decumbent at base, unbranched or branched, hairs spreading to retrorse, short, scabrid below inflorescence, sometimes becoming medium length to long, soft to stiff, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones in inflorescence.

solitary or few, erect, unbranched or branched, hairs spreading, short to long, ± stiff, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones.

Leaves

green, sometimes purplish, linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 1–8.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat or involute lengthwise, 0(–5)-lobed, apex acute;

lobes ascending, linear, central one sometimes shallowly toothed, apex acute to obtuse.

green, linear to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 2–5.7 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 3–7(–9)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute;

lobes spreading to ascending, linear to narrowly oblong, apex acuminate.

Inflorescences

3–14 × 1.5–3 cm;

bracts greenish throughout, or proximally greenish, distally pale to bright yellow or whitish, rarely pale orangish, lanceolate to oblong, (0–)3–7-lobed;

lobes ascending to erect, linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, medium length, arising at or above mid length, central lobe apex obtuse to rounded, lateral ones acute.

2–14 × 1–4 cm;

bracts greenish throughout, or proximally greenish, distally white, cream, pale pink, or pale purple on apices, linear-lanceolate, 5–7(–9)-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes;

lobes ascending to spreading, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, long, arising all along leaf axis, apex acute to obtuse.

Corollas

straight or slightly curved, 21–27 mm;

tube 14–16 mm;

beak partly exserted, adaxially green, 7–12 mm;

abaxial lip ascending, green, reduced, 2–4 mm, 25–50% as long as beak;

teeth erect or incurved, sometimes spreading, green or white, 0.7–2.5 mm.

straight or slightly curved, 12–25 mm;

tube 9–14 mm, expanded distally;

abaxial lip sometimes slightly exserted, never hidden by slender calyx lobes, beak exserted;

beak straight, adaxially white or lilac pink, 3–5.5 mm, inconspicuously puberulent;

abaxial lip proximally white, distally yellow, with purple or red-brown spots, conspicuous, pouches 3, inflated, 4–6 mm, 4–5 mm wide, 2 mm deep, longer than deep, 1.5–4 mm, 90% as long as beak;

teeth erect, white, usually with purple spot at base, 0.5–1 mm.

Calyces

colored as bracts, 15–25 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 6–13 mm, 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–7 mm, 15% of calyx length;

lobes narrowly triangular to linear, apex acute.

colored as bracts, 15–25 mm; all 4 clefts subequal, 7–11 mm, 50–67% of calyx length;

lobes linear, apices often slightly expanded, apex obtuse to acute.

Filaments

glabrous.

2n

= 48, 96.

= 20.

Castilleja lutescens

Castilleja lineariloba

Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat Grasslands, open conifer forests, moist meadows, rocky slopes, valleys, montane. Grasslands, moist meadows, swales, shores, forest openings.
Elevation 600–1900 m. (2000–6200 ft.) 0–1600 m. (0–5200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Castilleja lutescens is found east of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington and ranges east to western Montana and the adjacent interior of western Canada. Its inflorescences vary in color from entirely greenish to white or yellowish, and the stature of the plants is also variable, trending from moderate and compact in grasslands to taller in more forested situations. In the Blue Mountains of Garfield County, Washington, occasional hybrids form between C. lutescens and C. hispida var. acuta, which often both occur in the same vicinity.

L. R. Heckard (1968) reported a chromosome count of ca. 2n = 120 from a population in Montana.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Castilleja lineariloba is endemic to the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Its chromosome number is 2n = 20, an apparent aneuploid reduction and documented by numerous counts. This diploid number is shared only with two very distantly related annual species endemic to central Mexico, C. gracilis Bentham and C. tenuifolia M. Martens & Galeotti.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 624. FNA vol. 17, p. 623.
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Castilleja Orobanchaceae > Castilleja
Sibling taxa
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
C. affinis, C. ambigua, C. angustifolia, C. applegatei, C. aquariensis, C. arachnoidea, C. attenuata, C. brevilobata, C. brevistyla, C. campestris, C. cervina, C. chambersii, C. chlorotica, C. christii, C. chromosa, C. chrymactis, C. chrysantha, C. cinerea, C. citrina, C. coccinea, C. collegiorum, C. covilleana, C. crista-galli, C. cryptantha, C. cusickii, C. densiflora, C. dissitiflora, C. disticha, C. elata, C. elegans, C. elmeri, C. exserta, C. flava, C. foliolosa, C. fraterna, C. genevieveana, C. glandulifera, C. gleasoni, C. gracillima, C. grisea, C. haydenii, C. hispida, C. hololeuca, C. hyperborea, C. indivisa, C. integra, C. kaibabensis, C. kerryana, C. kraliana, C. lacera, C. lanata, C. lasiorhyncha, C. lassenensis, C. latifolia, C. lemmonii, C. leschkeana, C. levisecta, C. linariifolia, C. lindheimeri, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, C. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, C. nivea, C. occidentalis, C. oresbia, C. organorum, C. ornata, C. pallescens, C. pallida, C. parviflora, C. parvula, C. patriotica, C. peckiana, C. peirsonii, C. pilosa, C. plagiotoma, C. praeterita, C. pruinosa, C. puberula, C. pulchella, C. purpurascens, C. purpurea, C. raupii, C. revealii, C. rhexiifolia, C. rigida, C. rubicundula, C. rubida, C. rupicola, C. salsuginosa, C. scabrida, C. schizotricha, C. septentrionalis, C. sessiliflora, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tenuiflora, C. tenuis, C. thompsonii, C. tomentosa, C. uliginosa, C. unalaschcensis, C. victoriae, C. viscidula, C. wightii, C. wootonii, C. xanthotricha
Synonyms C. pallida var. lutescens Orthocarpus linearilobus, O. mariposanus
Name authority (Greenman) Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 359. (1900) (Bentham) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 657. (1991)
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