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alpine paintbrush, dwarf alpine Indian paintbrush, dwarf alpine paintbrush, dwarf paintbrush

felt paintbrush, Texas Indian paintbrush, Texas paintbrush, woolly Indian paintbrush, woolly paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 0.4–1.7 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Herbs or subshrubs, sometimes shrubs, perennial, 1.2–6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot.
Stems

few to several, ascending to decumbent-based, unbranched, hairs spreading, long, soft to stiff, mixed with shorter stipitate-glandular ones.

many, ascending, white or grayish due to hairs branched, much-branched proximally, unbranched to sometimes branched on distal 1/2, also usually with short axillary branches, base often shrubby and with marcescent leaves of previous year, hairs dense, appressed to spreading, medium length, soft, much-branched, eglandular, white-woolly, obscuring surface.

Leaves

green to deep purple, linear to narrowly lanceolate, (0.5–)1–2.5(–3.1) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat to slightly involute, 3(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate;

lobes ascending-erect, linear to filiform, apex acute to obtuse.

whitish or grayish, linear to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 0.9–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0–3-lobed, apex obtuse to rounded;

lobes divergent, spreading, linear, apex acuminate to acute.

Inflorescences

15–20 × 1.5–3 cm;

bracts greenish or deep purplish throughout, or proximally greenish or deep purplish, distally white, pink, magenta, reddish purple, purple, or pale yellow, distal coloration often limited to apices and margins, broadly lanceolate or narrowly to broadly elliptic, 0–3(–7)-lobed;

lobes spreading, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, long, arising near mid length, apex acute or obtuse.

2.5–20 × 1.5–3 cm;

bracts proximally green to dull pale purplish, distally red, scarlet, rose, yellow, orange, or cream, sometimes pink or white, lanceolate to oblanceolate, (0–)3–5-lobed;

lobes spreading, or distal ones erect, often oblanceolate, if 5-lobed, distal lobes usually very shallow, long or distal short, proximal bracts arising below mid length, distal ones arising near apex, apex rounded to truncate.

Corollas

straight, 10–16(–19) mm;

tube 8–13 mm, with patches of blackish coloration on either side of distal portion;

beak subequal to calyx or exserted, adaxially green, yellow, whitish, or pink, 3–5.5 mm, scarcely exceeding abaxial lip, margins brown or burgundy, sometimes pink;

abaxial lip pale yellow, white, green, or purple, inflated, pouched, 2–5 mm, 65–95% as long as beak;

teeth erect to slightly spreading, white, yellow, or pink, 0.5–2.1 mm.

straight or slightly curved, 16–27 mm;

tube (8–)10–12(–14) mm;

beak exserted or partially so, adaxially green, (7–)8.5–14 mm;

abaxial lip deep green, reduced, 1–3 mm, 20–33% as long as beak;

teeth incurved, reduced, green, 0.5 mm.

Calyces

green to purple, margins green, white, or pink, 10–19 mm;

abaxial, adaxial, and lateral clefts 3.5–7(–10) mm, 33–55% of calyx length, all 4 clefts subequal;

lobes linear, lanceolate-elliptic, or narrowly triangular, apex acute to rounded.

proximally green, apices colored as bracts, 14–20(–22) mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 3.5–7(–9) mm, 33–40% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0(–1) mm, 0(–7)% of calyx length;

lobes broadly triangular, apex of lobes and segments broadly rounded to truncate, segments, if present, obtuse.

Stigmas

black.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Castilleja nana

Castilleja foliolosa

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering Jan–Jul.
Habitat Rocky or gravelly slopes, talus, ridges, fellfields, subalpine and alpine, often over granite. Chaparral, dry rocky slopes, coastal scrub, open forests.
Elevation 1900–4300 m. (6200–14100 ft.) 0–1900 m. (0–6200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja nana is limited to high elevations in the Sierra Nevada of California and the Great Basin ranges in central Nevada and western Utah. Plants with pink to purple inflorescences were described as C. lapidicola. Localized hybrid swarms between C. nana and C. viscidula are known from several mountain ranges in central and northern Nevada. Castilleja nana is sometimes confused with higher elevation forms of C. pilosa but can usually be distinguished from that species by the blackish patches on the sides of the corolla tube. Divergent populations in the central Sierra Nevada and adjacent White Mountains deserve further study.

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

Castilleja foliolosa inhabits chaparral from northern California southward to northern Baja California, west of the Sierra Nevada crest. The inflorescence is usually red or red-orange but can vary to white, yellow, pink, or purple. It is present on Santa Catalina Island in the southern Channel Islands, Los Angeles County, but is replaced in the northern Channel Islands by C. hololeuca, a related shrubby species. Castilleja foliolosa hybridizes with C. martini var. martini in San Diego County.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 633. FNA vol. 17, p. 608.
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. mendocinensis, C. mexicana, C. miniata, C. minor, C. mogollonica, C. mollis, C. montigena, 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. 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, C. xanthotricha
Synonyms C. lapidicola
Name authority Eastwood: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 3, 2: 289. (1902) — (as Castilleia) Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 154. (1833)
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