Castilleja nivea |
Castilleja puberula |
|
---|---|---|
snow Indian paintbrush, snow paintbrush, snowy paintbrush |
alpine paintbrush, short-flower paintbrush, shortflower Indian paintbrush |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1.6 dm; from a woody caudex; with a taproot. | Herbs, perennial, 0.8–1.5 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. |
few to several, erect or ascending, unbranched, sometimes branched, hairs retrorse, short, soft, 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. |
green to purple, linear to linear-lanceolate, 2–3.3 cm, not fleshy, margins plane, involute, 0–3(–5)-lobed, apex acuminate; lobes ascending-spreading to widely spreading, narrowly linear, apex 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. |
4–5 × 1.5–2.5 cm; bracts greenish throughout, or proximally greenish, distally bright yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-orange on apices, narrowly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 0–5(–7)-lobed; lobes spreading, filiform to linear, long, proximal lobes arising in proximal 1/2, apex acute to acuminate. |
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 or slightly curved, 18–21 mm; tube 13–15 mm; beak exserted, adaxially yellow to yellow-green, 6–8 mm; abaxial lip green, reduced, visible in front cleft, slightly pouched, 2.5–3.5 mm, 35–60% as long as beak; teeth erect, yellow, 1 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 to yellowish, margins sometimes yellow, 10–17 mm; abaxial clefts 8–9 mm, adaxial 2–3 mm, abaxial ca. 50% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 20% of calyx length, deeper than laterals, lateral 1.9–2.5 mm, 12–20% of calyx length; lobes narrowly triangular, apex acute to acuminate. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Castilleja nivea |
Castilleja puberula |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering (Feb–)Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Gravelly slopes and flats, turf and fellfields, mostly alpine. | Moist meadows, stream banks, mesic rocky slopes, tundra, subalpine and alpine. |
Elevation | 1700–3600 m. (5600–11800 ft.) | 2700–3900 m. (8900–12800 ft.) |
Distribution |
MT; WY
|
CO; MT
|
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 puberula is a near-endemic of alpine communities in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Larimer, and Park counties. A highly disjunct population occurs near the summit of Mt. Jefferson on the Continental Divide in Beaverhead County, Montana. Castilleja puberula appears to be a high-elevation isolate from the widespread C. flava, which is common at lower elevations in the Intermountain Region. A single case of hybridization with C. septentrionalis is known from Clear Creek County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 634. | FNA vol. 17, p. 648. |
Parent taxa | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja | Orobanchaceae > Castilleja |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Pennell & Ownbey: Notul. Nat. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 227: 2. (1950) | Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 31: 644. (1905) |
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