Castilleja montigena |
Castilleja christii |
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Heckard's Indian paintbrush, Heckard's paintbrush |
Christ's Indian paintbrush, John Christ's paintbrush |
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Habit | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–4.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 1.4–3 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. |
Stems | few to several, decumbent to erect, sometimes leaning, unbranched or often much-branched distally, with a few short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs spreading, short, soft, stipitate-glandular, mixed with long-spreading, eglandular ones. |
several, erect to ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, glabrous or hairs spreading, short and long, ± stiff, sometimes stipitate-glandular especially distally. |
Leaves | gray-green, sometimes green, lanceolate-linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–6.5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes wavy, flat to involute, 0(–3)-lobed, apex acuminate; lobes spreading-ascending, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute. |
green, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, (1–)2–5(–6) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat or involute, (0–)3(–5)-lobed, apex acute to rounded; lobes erect or ascending, linear, lanceolate, or triangular, sometimes very small, apex acute to rounded. |
Inflorescences | 3–30 × 3–4 cm; bracts proximally green to dark purplish, distally red to crimson, sometimes pale salmon, linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, 3–5-lobed; lobes spreading, linear, long, arising below mid length, apex acute, sometimes obtuse. |
3–6 × 2–4 cm; bracts proximally greenish, distally pale orange or pale yellow, sometimes red-orange, lanceolate or narrowly elliptic to ovate, sometimes obovate, 3–5-lobed; lobes ascending, linear, medium length to long, arising at or below mid length, apex acute to obtuse. |
Corollas | straight or slightly curved, 20–40 mm; tube 15–23 mm; abaxial lip exserted to included, beak much exserted; beak adaxially yellow-green to reddish, 9–18 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, 0.5–1.5 mm, 5–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, green, (0–)0.5–1.5 mm. |
straight, 20–30 mm; tube 12–19 mm; beak exserted, adaxially green, 7–12 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, included or visible through cleft, 1.5–2 mm, 10–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, deep green, 1.5 mm. |
Calyces | colored as bracts, 15–20 mm; abaxial clefts 3.4–6.2 mm, adaxial 4.5–9 mm, clefts 25–33% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0.5–2 mm, 5–10% of calyx length; lobes narrowly triangular, often slightly unequal, apex acute. |
colored as bracts, 17–22(–24) mm; abaxial clefts 9–12(–13) mm, adaxial 7–11 mm, clefts 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 2–6.5(–8.5) mm, 20–50% of calyx length; lobes lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse. |
2n | = 48, 72. |
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Castilleja montigena |
Castilleja christii |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Dry rocky slopes, ledges, open conifer forests, thickets, washes. | Gentle slopes, mostly northern aspect, in herbaceous or grassy subalpine to alpine meadows, sagebrush openings and swales, snowbank communities, over quartzite. |
Elevation | 1900–2900 m. (6200–9500 ft.) | 2100–2900 m. (6900–9500 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA
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ID
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Discussion | Castilleja montigena is endemic to the northeastern portion of the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. In the field, this species is consistently and relatively easily distinguished from nearby populations of C. martini var. martini, which it essentially replaces in the northeastern portion of the San Bernardino Mountains. It is apparently of allopolyploid hybrid origin between C. martini var. martini and C. chromosa, which approaches its range from the adjacent Mojave Desert. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Castilleja christii is endemic to subalpine meadows near the summit of Mt. Harrison in the Albion Mountains, Cassia County. Morphologically, it most closely resembles the widespread C. hispida var. acuta, but a recent molecular study (D. L. Clay et al. 2012) presents clear evidence for a homoploid hybrid origin for the species, incorporating portions of the genomes of C. linariifolia and C. miniata. This is the first documented case of homoploid origin in Castilleja. Castilleja christii is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 632. | FNA vol. 17, p. 595. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Heckard: Syst. Bot. 5: 83, fig. 17 [center]. (1980) | N. H. Holmgren: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 100: 91, fig. 5. (1973) |
Web links |