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

trans-Pecos Indian paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 3–6(–10) 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.

solitary or few, ascending to erect, straight, unbranched or branched, hairs dense, spreading, long, stiff, eglandular, mixed with deflexed, 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 to purple-tinged, linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1.5–8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0-lobed, apex rounded to acute.

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.

3–16 × 2–4.5 cm;

bracts proximally green to deep purple, distally red to red-orange or orange, sometimes with a pale medial band, lanceolate to oblanceolate to ovate or obovate, 0(–3)-lobed;

lobes when present upright, ± triangular, short, arising from distal portion, apex obtuse to rounded or truncate.

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, 15–24 mm;

tube 11–13 mm; subequal to calyx or tip slightly exserted;

beak adaxially whitish to pinkish, 5–11 mm;

abaxial lip pale to deep green, reduced, 1–2 mm, 10–20% as long as beak;

teeth incurved, green, 1–2.5 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.

proximally light green, distally deep green, deep purple, or blackish, 15–24 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–9 mm, 25–45% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0–0.5 mm, 0–3% of calyx length;

lobes oblong, sometimes emarginate, apex obtuse, rounded, or obliquely truncate.

2n

= 48, 96.

= 24, 48.

Castilleja lutescens

Castilleja nervata

Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering Aug–Sep.
Habitat Grasslands, open conifer forests, moist meadows, rocky slopes, valleys, montane. Dry south-facing rocky slopes with scattered bunchgrasses and oaks, cliff bases, mesa tops, open pine-oak woodlands, rocky savannas.
Elevation 600–1900 m. (2000–6200 ft.) 1800–2400 m. (5900–7900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, Guerrero, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Sonora, Veracruz)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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 nervata is a common and widespread Mexican species, from northern Chihuahua and Sonora south to central Oaxaca. It has medicinal value to indigenous peoples of the Sierra Madre. In the flora area, C. nervata is known from a single, presumably extant population in the Chiricahua Mountains in Cochise County, though there are historical records from the Rincon and Santa Rita mountains. The sole recently verified population is on private property and is endangered.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 624. FNA vol. 17, p. 634.
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. nana, C. nelsonii, 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. cruenta
Name authority (Greenman) Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 359. (1900) Eastwood: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 44: 574. (1909)
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