Castilleja nivea |
Castilleja plagiotoma |
|
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snow Indian paintbrush, snow paintbrush, snowy paintbrush |
Mojave desert paintbrush, Mojave Indian paintbrush, Mojave paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1.6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 2.3–5.3(–6) 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. |
several, erect to weakly ascending, often leaning on nearby shrubs, much-branched, often with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs sparse, spreading, short or long, soft, branched or unbranched, eglandular. |
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. |
gray-green or green to purple to ± deep red, linear or linear-lanceolate, 2–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to ± wavy, flat or involute, 3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute; lobes spreading-ascending, sometimes widely so, narrowly linear, apex acute or obtuse. |
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. |
3–20 × 0.5–1.5 cm; bracts green throughout, sometimes tinged dull purple, proximal sometimes linear-lanceolate, distal or all bracts oblong, 3–5(–7)-lobed; lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblanceolate, short to long, proximal lobes arising near mid length, sometimes wavy-margined, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones obtuse to 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. |
straight, 13–20 mm; tube 5–7 mm; beak short-exserted, sometimes shorter than abaxial calyx segments, adaxially yellow, rarely greenish, 7–10 mm; abaxial lip pale green to yellowish, reduced, 0.5–1.5 mm, 7–17% as long as beak; teeth reduced to apiculations, pale green to yellowish, 0.5–0.8 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. |
light green, cream, or light yellow, often appearing white from dense white-woolly pubescence, 10–18 mm; abaxial clefts 5–6.5 mm, closed by intertwined hairs and appearing 2 mm deep, adaxial 2.2–4.2 mm, abaxial ca. 25% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 20% of calyx length, shallower (or appearing much shallower), than laterals, lateral 4.6–7.5 mm, ca. 50% of calyx length; lobes: abaxial segments broad, paddle-shaped, 7 mm, inner surface of abaxial segments densely white-woolly, apex rounded to broadly obtuse, adaxial narrowly triangular, 5 mm, apex acute. |
2n | = 24. |
|
Castilleja nivea |
Castilleja plagiotoma |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Mar–Jul. |
Habitat | Gravelly slopes and flats, turf and fellfields, mostly alpine. | Dry flats, rocky, sandy, or clayey slopes, ridges, sagebrush steppes, chaparral, desert scrub, pinyon woodlands. |
Elevation | 1700–3600 m. (5600–11800 ft.) | 200–2500 m. (700–8200 ft.) |
Distribution |
MT; WY
|
CA
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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 plagiotoma is unique in the genus in the structure of its calyces, with the lateral clefts deeper than the median clefts. The relative lengths of the calyx lobes are also unique, with the abaxial lobes exceeding the adaxial lobes by 2–3 mm. The abaxial lobes also bear a dense indument of whitish, branched hairs. The uniformly greenish bracts are uncommon among perennial species of Castilleja. Castilleja plagiotoma is scattered in the western Mojave Desert and the hills adjacent to the southwestern San Joaquin Valley, California. While not of immediate conservation concern, this species is uncommon and increasingly threatened by recreational vehicles, livestock grazing, residential development, and resource extraction. Castilleja plagiotoma is most often associated with and is likely parasitic on Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium, but it is also often observed with Artemisia tridentata or other species. It is a known larval host plant for the butterfly, Euphydryas editha subsp. erlichii. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 634. | FNA vol. 17, p. 646. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Pennell & Ownbey: Notul. Nat. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 227: 2. (1950) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 19: 93. (1883) — (as Castilleia) |
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