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snow Indian paintbrush, snow paintbrush, snowy paintbrush

Sierra woolly Indian paintbrush, Sierra woolly paintbrush, woolly paintbrush

Habit Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1.6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. Subshrubs or herbs, perennial, 1.8–9(–10) dm; from a woody caudex; with a thick, woody taproot or system to thick, branched roots.
Stems

few to several, erect to ascending, decumbent at base, unbranched except for small, leafy axillary shoots, hairs weakly spreading to appressed, ± matted, especially distally on stem, fairly short and sparse proximally, longer and denser distally, soft, eglandular, becoming woolly, often obscuring surface.

few to many, erect to ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched distally, sometimes with leafy axillary shoots, lanate to woolly, hairs dense, spreading to weakly appressed, white to yellowish, medium length, soft, moderately branched or unbranched in different populations, sometimes mixed, eglandular, rarely short stipitate-glandular, mostly obscuring surface.

Leaves

gray with hairs, surface green to purple, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–3.8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, sometimes ± wavy, involute, 0–3-lobed, apex acute;

lobes ascending-spreading, linear to narrowly lanceolate, apex acute to obtuse.

green to purple, often hidden by matted, white hairs, linear to narrowly oblong or narrowly lanceolate, (1–)2–7(–10) cm, not fleshy, margins plane, flat, sometimes involute, 0–3-lobed, apex rounded, sometimes acute;

lobes spreading, linear or narrowly oblong, apex rounded to acute.

Inflorescences

2.5–6 × 1–2.5 cm;

bracts greenish to pale yellow-green or very pale, dull purplish throughout, lanceolate to oblong, (0–)3(–5)-lobed;

lobes usually ascending, linear, medium length to long, arising near mid length, apex acute.

2–19 × 1.5–5 cm;

bracts proximally pale greenish to greenish gray, distally bright red to orange-red, sometimes pinkish, magenta, or salmon, rarely yellow, oblong to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblanceolate, deeply 0–3(–5)-lobed;

lobes spreading, oblanceolate or linear, long, arising below mid length, distal bract apex usually rounded.

Corollas

straight, 18–25 mm;

tube 3.5–5.5 mm; subequal to calyx, or beak and sometimes abaxial lip exserted;

beak adaxially yellow, 6–8 mm, hairs moderately long, matted on midline, very short-glandular on sides;

abaxial lip green, inconspicuous, slightly pouched, 3.5–5.5 mm, 60–90% as long as beak;

teeth erect, white or yellow, 0.5–3 mm.

curved in proximal 1/3, 23–35(–42) mm;

tube 12–17 mm;

beak exserted, adaxially greenish to yellowish, 11–22 mm;

abaxial lip dark green, reduced, 1–4 mm, ca. 20% as long as beak;

teeth incurved, reduced, green, 0.5–2.5 mm.

Calyces

yellow, color mostly obscured by whitish hairs, 15–22 mm;

abaxial, adaxial, and lateral clefts (5.5–)7–12 mm, 35–55% of calyx length, often appearing shorter because matted hairs stitch proximal part of clefts shut, all 4 clefts subequal;

lobes broadly linear, apex acute.

proximally whitish to green, central band whitish, distal 1/3 colored as bract lobes, sometimes lighter or deeper, 15–29 mm;

abaxial and adaxial clefts 6–14 mm, ca. 50% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0–5 mm, 0–5(–15)% of calyx length;

lobes oblong to broadly triangular, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Castilleja nivea

Castilleja lanata

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Gravelly slopes and flats, turf and fellfields, mostly alpine. Dry rocky slopes, ridges, canyons, flats, valleys, montane.
Elevation 1700–3600 m. (5600–11800 ft.) 300–2300 m. (1000–7500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
MT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Castilleja nivea is endemic to alpine habitats in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming and adjacent Montana. It forms occasional hybrids with C. pulchella, which often shares its habitat, as on the Beartooth Plateau in northwestern Wyoming.

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

Most records of Castilleja lanata are from the southern third of Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Texas. Plants sometimes referred to C. lanata from the Channel Islands of California are assigned here to C. hololeuca, an insular endemic. In northern Mexico, C. lanata extends from San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León westward to Sonora, with a disjunct distribution in central Baja California, where it overlaps the southern limits of a related species, C. foliolosa. Castilleja lanata inhabits a wide spectrum of soils and elevations and does not co-occur with the closely related C. galehintoniae in Nuevo León, where the latter is limited to limestone and gypsum substrates in a narrow elevational range. Hybrids of C. lanata with C. sessiliflora are known from Pecos County, Texas.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 634. FNA vol. 17, p. 618.
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. nana, C. nelsonii, C. nervata, 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. 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
Name authority Pennell & Ownbey: Notul. Nat. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 227: 2. (1950) A. Gray: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 118. (1859)
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