Castilleja montigena |
Castilleja chromosa |
|
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Heckard's Indian paintbrush, Heckard's paintbrush |
desert paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–4.5 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, sometimes subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–3.5(–4.5) 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 to many, ascending to erect, often grayish, unbranched, rarely branched, sometimes with short, leafy axillary branches, hairs spreading-erect, long, stiff, eglandular, sometimes also with shorter, stipitate-glandular ones. |
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. |
gray-green, linear, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, sometimes broadly lanceolate, (1.5–)2.5–6(–7) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, (0–)3–5(–7)-lobed, sometimes with secondary lobes, apex acuminate to obtuse; lobes spreading, linear, apex acuminate. |
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. |
2.5–15 (much longer in fruit) × 1.5–5.5 cm; bracts proximally greenish to dull purplish, distally bright red to scarlet or orange-red, rarely yellowish to dull orange or pink, narrowly to broadly linear or lanceolate, narrowly ovate, or oblong-lanceolate, (0–)3–7-lobed, rarely with secondary lobes; lobes spreading, linear to oblong, sometimes oblanceolate, often expanded near tip, long, proximal lobes arising below mid length, apex rounded or obtuse to sometimes acute. |
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 or ± curved, 18–35(–40) mm; tube 8–15 mm; beak short- or long-exserted, adaxially green to yellow-green, (9–)10–18 mm; abaxial lip deep green, reduced, thickened, included to exserted, 2–3 mm, ca. 20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, deep green, 0.5–1 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, sometimes with broad yellow band below colored lobe apices, (17–)20–27 mm; abaxial clefts 4–10 mm, adaxial 6–12 mm, abaxial ca. 30% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1–4 mm, ca. 15% of calyx length; lobes oblong or ovate to narrowly triangular or lanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded. |
2n | = 48, 72. |
= 24, 48. |
Castilleja montigena |
Castilleja chromosa |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Aug(–Nov). |
Habitat | Dry rocky slopes, ledges, open conifer forests, thickets, washes. | Dry sagebrush slopes and flats, pinyon-juniper stands, blackbrush, open yellow pine forests. |
Elevation | 1900–2900 m. (6200–9500 ft.) | 500–3200 m. (1600–10500 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
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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 chromosa is sometimes confused with 3b. C. angustifolia var. dubia (see discussion there). Castilleja chromosa retains its distinctive morphology across its wide range and is a characteristic species of much of the southwestern United States. Where it overlaps with C. angustifolia, the two are distinguished by inflorescence color and width and by the lengths of the calyx, corolla, and corolla beak. In the broad region of their sympatry, there is little evidence of intergradation, except in a few sites in Elko County, Nevada, and in southern Wyoming. Throughout southern Idaho and northeastern Nevada the range of the two overlap with little or no intergradation. At high elevations in Montrose County, Colorado, C. chromosa has narrower leaves and a longer and silkier pubescence, especially in the inflorescence. Apparent hybrids between C. chromosa and C. flava var. rustica are known from Custer County, Idaho, and hybrids with C. linariifolia are known from Montrose County, Colorado. (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 | ||
Synonyms | C. ewanii, C. martini subsp. ewanii, C. martini var. ewanii | |
Name authority | Heckard: Syst. Bot. 5: 83, fig. 17 [center]. (1980) | A. Nelson: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 245. (1899) — (as Castilleia) |
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