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Mendocino coast Indian paintbrush, Mendocino coast paintbrush

Castilleja xanthotricha

John Day or yellow-hairy paintbrush, John Day paintbrush, yellow hair paintbrush, yellow-hair Indian paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1.7–6.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs, perennial, 1–2(–3.8) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

few to many, decumbent to ascending, much-branched, with leafy axillary shoots, villous, hairs spreading, long, stiff to soft, eglandular, mixed with short-glandular ones.

few to several, ± decumbent to erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs erect to spreading, long, soft, eglandular, mixed with short stipitate-glandular ones.

Leaves

gray-green becoming ± purple, or green, ± cup-shaped, oblong to narrowly elliptic or suborbicular, 0.5–2(–5) cm, ± fleshy, cupulate throughout, sometimes obscurely so on distal portion of stem, margins plane, flat to involute, 0–3-lobed, apex rounded;

lobes ascending, oblong to rounded, apex truncate or rounded, sometimes ± acute.

green, linear, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, oblong, or cuneate, 0.8–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to wavy, involute, 0–5-lobed, apex acute, sometimes rounded;

lobes spreading, linear, arising below mid length, nearly as broad as center lobe, apex acute.

Inflorescences

5–23 × 1.5–3.5 cm;

bracts proximally greenish, distally bright red or red-orange, sometimes orange, oblong, ovate, or widely cuneate to widely obovate to suborbiculate, sometimes cup-shaped, 0–3-lobed, sometimes with 3 additional shallow teeth at tip of central lobe;

lobes erect, oblong to broadly triangular, short, arising above mid length, apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, lateral ones sometimes acute.

3–14 × 1.5–4.5 cm;

bracts proximally greenish, rarely dull reddish purple, distally white to cream, rarely pale yellow or dull, pale pink (sharply differentiated from proximal coloration), lanceolate or oblong to narrowly ovate, (3–)5–7-lobed;

lobes ascending, linear to obovate, ± broadened distally, medium, long, proximal lobes arising below mid length, central lobe apex broadly rounded to truncate, others acute to rounded.

Corollas

straight or slightly curved, 28–45 mm;

tube 18–20 mm;

beak exserted, adaxially green or yellow-green, 15–25 mm;

abaxial lip deep green, reduced, visible in front cleft, 1–1.5 mm, 10% as long as beak;

teeth incurved, green, 0.5–1 mm.

curved, 17–23 mm;

tube 15–19 mm;

beak exserted, adaxially green, 5–8(–9) mm, puberulent, stipitate-glandular;

abaxial lip deep purple (color sometimes visible through calyx), green, pinkish, or pale yellow, ± prominent, slightly inflated, usually hidden in calyx, sometimes right at top of calyx, 2 mm, ca. 50% as long as beak;

teeth ascending, whitish, yellowish, pink, or green, 1–1.5 mm.

Calyces

colored as bracts, often with a yellow central band, 20–31 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 8–12 mm, ca. 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–6 mm, 10–15% of calyx length;

lobes oblong to broadly or narrowly triangular, apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes acute.

colored as bracts, 15–26 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 3.5–7 mm, 25–50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–5 mm, 12–25% of calyx length;

lobes linear, oblong, or narrowly triangular, center lobe apex usually rounded, lobes acute to rounded.

2n

= 72.

= 48.

Castilleja mendocinensis

Castilleja xanthotricha

Phenology Flowering Apr–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Coastal scrub, headlands, sea bluffs, over sandstone or serpentine. Arid, rocky, sandy, or clay slopes of basaltic origin, sagebrush steppes.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 400–800 m. (1300–2600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja mendocinensis is a coastal plant from Mendocino County, California, northward to Curry County, Oregon. Its close relative, C. latifolia, occurs in similar habitats south of San Francisco Bay. There is one known population in Oregon, and a number of California localities are threatened by coastal development.

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

Castilleja xanthotricha is endemic to moderate elevations in the sagebrush hills of the John Day River drainage in north-central Oregon. N. H. Holmgren (1971) hypothesized that this tetraploid species is of allopolyploid hybrid origin between C. glandulifera and C. oresbia.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 626. FNA vol. 17, p. 665.
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. lutescens, C. martini, 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. 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
Synonyms C. latifolia subsp. mendocinensis
Name authority (Eastwood) Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 99: 184. (1947) Pennell: Notul. Nat. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 74: 5. (1941)
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