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

alpine paintbrush, dwarf alpine Indian paintbrush, dwarf alpine paintbrush, dwarf paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, 0.4–1.7 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
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.

few to several, ascending to decumbent-based, unbranched, hairs spreading, long, soft to stiff, mixed with shorter 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 to deep purple, linear to narrowly lanceolate, (0.5–)1–2.5(–3.1) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to slightly involute, 3(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate;

lobes ascending-erect, linear to filiform, apex acute to obtuse.

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.

15–20 × 1.5–3 cm;

bracts greenish or deep purplish throughout, or proximally greenish or deep purplish, distally white, pink, magenta, reddish purple, purple, or pale yellow, distal coloration often limited to apices and margins, broadly lanceolate or narrowly to broadly elliptic, 0–3(–7)-lobed;

lobes spreading, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, long, arising near mid length, apex acute or 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, 10–16(–19) mm;

tube 8–13 mm, with patches of blackish coloration on either side of distal portion;

beak subequal to calyx or exserted, adaxially green, yellow, whitish, or pink, 3–5.5 mm, scarcely exceeding abaxial lip, margins brown or burgundy, sometimes pink;

abaxial lip pale yellow, white, green, or purple, inflated, pouched, 2–5 mm, 65–95% as long as beak;

teeth erect to slightly spreading, white, yellow, or pink, 0.5–2.1 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.

green to purple, margins green, white, or pink, 10–19 mm;

abaxial, adaxial, and lateral clefts 3.5–7(–10) mm, 33–55% of calyx length, all 4 clefts subequal;

lobes linear, lanceolate-elliptic, or narrowly triangular, apex acute to rounded.

Stigmas

black.

2n

= 48, 96.

= 24.

Castilleja lutescens

Castilleja nana

Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Grasslands, open conifer forests, moist meadows, rocky slopes, valleys, montane. Rocky or gravelly slopes, talus, ridges, fellfields, subalpine and alpine, often over granite.
Elevation 600–1900 m. (2000–6200 ft.) 1900–4300 m. (6200–14100 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV; UT
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[BONAP county 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 nana is limited to high elevations in the Sierra Nevada of California and the Great Basin ranges in central Nevada and western Utah. Plants with pink to purple inflorescences were described as C. lapidicola. Localized hybrid swarms between C. nana and C. viscidula are known from several mountain ranges in central and northern Nevada. Castilleja nana is sometimes confused with higher elevation forms of C. pilosa but can usually be distinguished from that species by the blackish patches on the sides of the corolla tube. Divergent populations in the central Sierra Nevada and adjacent White Mountains deserve further study.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 624. FNA vol. 17, p. 633.
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. lineariloba, C. lineata, C. litoralis, C. lutescens, C. martini, C. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, 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 C. lapidicola
Name authority (Greenman) Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 359. (1900) Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 3, 2: 289. (1902) — (as Castilleia)
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