Castilleja lutescens |
Castilleja tenuis |
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stiff yellow Indian paintbrush, stiff yellow paintbrush, yellow paintbrush, yellowish paintbrush |
annual white paintbrush, hairy Indian paintbrush, hairy owl's-clover, hairy owl-clover, hairy paintbrush, slender paintbrush, thin paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 1.4–6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, annual, 0.45–5.2 dm; with a slender taproot or branched root system. |
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, erect, unbranched or with few upright branches, hairs spreading, long, soft, mixed with shorter, eglandular and 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 brown, proximal linear, distal lanceolate, 0.7–4(–8) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex acuminate; lobes ascending-spreading, very long linear, apex 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. |
2–25 × 1–3 cm; bracts green, sometimes proximally green, distally dull brownish to deep purplish brown, lanceolate to narrowly ovate or ovate, (3–)5–7(–9)-lobed; lobes ascending to erect, linear or narrowly lanceolate, long, proximal lobes arising below mid length, apex acute to acuminate. |
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 to ± curved distally, 12–20 mm; tube 9–14 mm; abaxial lip and beak exserted; beak adaxially white or pale yellowish, 3.5–5 mm, inconspicuously puberulent; abaxial lip white or yellow, 3 small red-brown dots near base, inflated, pouches 3, 2–4 mm wide, 2 mm deep, 2–4 mm, 50–70% as long as beak; teeth erect, white or yellow, 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. |
green to brownish, margins sometimes deep purple or brown, 6–12 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 2–5 mm, 33–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–3.5 mm, 30–40% of calyx length; lobes linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate. |
Stigmas | included within beak. |
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2n | = 48, 96. |
= 24, 48. |
Castilleja lutescens |
Castilleja tenuis |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering Feb–Sep. |
Habitat | Grasslands, open conifer forests, moist meadows, rocky slopes, valleys, montane. | Moist flats, vernal pools, springs, damp meadows and ditches, riparian zones, sometimes over serpentine. |
Elevation | 600–1900 m. (2000–6200 ft.) | 200–2800 m. (700–9200 ft.) |
Distribution |
ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC
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CA; ID; NV; OR; WA; BC
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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 tenuis is restricted to the east side of the Cascade Range in British Columbia and Washington and also occurs west of the Cascade-Sierra axis in the more arid terrain of California and Oregon. Plants in the Umpqua and Willamette valleys of western Oregon are often taller, more robust, and with slightly larger flowers than is typical in other regions. There are two color forms, with white or yellow corollas, but most individual populations are consistently unicolored. More investigation is needed to determine if corolla color is influenced by genetic and/or environmental factors. There is some evidence (T. I. Chuang and L. R. Heckard 1982) that the colors are correlated to chromosome number, with the white-flowered plants being diploid, while the yellow-flowered plants are tetraploid; however, there are exceptions. D. D. Keck (1927) cited some evidence for seasonal change, with yellow flowers occurring early, replaced with white flowers later in the season. However, no unequivocal evidence exists to support this hypothesis, and the apparently complete absence of yellow-flowered plants in Oregon makes this an unlikely explanation. Cropping by grazing animals results in occasional plants that branch. Plants with slightly curved corolla beaks were described as Orthocarpus falcatus but have no geographic integrity or taxonomic significance. Castilleja tenuis was collected as a waif in Skagway, Alaska, a century ago. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 624. | FNA vol. 17, p. 660. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. pallida var. lutescens | Orthocarpus tenuis, O. falcatus, O. hispidus |
Name authority | (Greenman) Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 359. (1900) | (A. Heller) T. I. Chuang & Heckard: Syst. Bot. 16: 658. (1991) |
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