Castilleja nivea |
Castilleja nervata |
|
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snow Indian paintbrush, snow paintbrush, snowy paintbrush |
trans-Pecos Indian paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1.6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 3–6(–10) dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. |
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. |
solitary or few, ascending to erect, straight, unbranched or branched, hairs dense, spreading, long, stiff, eglandular, mixed with deflexed, short stipitate-glandular ones. |
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-tinged, linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1.5–8 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0-lobed, 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. |
3–16 × 2–4.5 cm; bracts proximally green to deep purple, distally red to red-orange or orange, sometimes with a pale medial band, lanceolate to oblanceolate to ovate or obovate, 0(–3)-lobed; lobes when present upright, ± triangular, short, arising from distal portion, apex obtuse to rounded or truncate. |
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. |
straight, 15–24 mm; tube 11–13 mm; subequal to calyx or tip slightly exserted; beak adaxially whitish to pinkish, 5–11 mm; abaxial lip pale to deep green, reduced, 1–2 mm, 10–20% as long as beak; teeth incurved, green, 1–2.5 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 light green, distally deep green, deep purple, or blackish, 15–24 mm; abaxial and adaxial clefts 5–9 mm, 25–45% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 0–0.5 mm, 0–3% of calyx length; lobes oblong, sometimes emarginate, apex obtuse, rounded, or obliquely truncate. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24, 48. |
Castilleja nivea |
Castilleja nervata |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Aug–Sep. |
Habitat | Gravelly slopes and flats, turf and fellfields, mostly alpine. | Dry south-facing rocky slopes with scattered bunchgrasses and oaks, cliff bases, mesa tops, open pine-oak woodlands, rocky savannas. |
Elevation | 1700–3600 m. (5600–11800 ft.) | 1800–2400 m. (5900–7900 ft.) |
Distribution |
MT; WY
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AZ; Mexico (Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, Guerrero, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Sonora, Veracruz)
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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.) |
Castilleja nervata is a common and widespread Mexican species, from northern Chihuahua and Sonora south to central Oaxaca. It has medicinal value to indigenous peoples of the Sierra Madre. In the flora area, C. nervata is known from a single, presumably extant population in the Chiricahua Mountains in Cochise County, though there are historical records from the Rincon and Santa Rita mountains. The sole recently verified population is on private property and is endangered. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 634. | FNA vol. 17, p. 634. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. cruenta | |
Name authority | Pennell & Ownbey: Notul. Nat. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 227: 2. (1950) | Eastwood: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 44: 574. (1909) |
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